Exclusive Insights on DOS EVOLVE IDIQ

The Department of State (DOS), Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM), intends to award a multiple award IDIQ to support the IT needs currently met under VANGUARD 2.2.1. The scope will also encompass IRM’s future IT-service needs not currently under VANGUARD 2.2.1. IRM intends to utilize this vehicle to support its enterprise-wide information technology requirements and its efforts to transform into a plan, build, test, run, and customer service structure. Functional service areas include data centers, computing, storage, networks, platforms, applications, and end-user solutions. Other major areas include IT security and compliance, as well as IT management and strategic planning.

Recent EVOLVE IDIQ Developments: 

When discussing the timeline for the final solicitation with Contracting Procurement Division Chief Steven Haines, we determined that the RFP release date is anticipated to be early Q4FY2022 via SAM.gov. This effort is a multiple award IDIQ, a partial small business set aside and has an estimated value of $4B over 10 years.

Exclusive Insights Via AlphaBrook Interviews About DOS EVOLVE IDIQ

During our investigation into IRM EVOLVE IDIQ, we conducted thorough research in order to gauge the customer’s perception of the current incumbent. Through our research, we discovered that Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is the current incumbent on the contract, and has been supporting DOS on the VANGUARD 2.2.1 requirement since January 2011. When we engaged with DOS IT Service Center (ITSC) Division Chief Roger Smith and discovered that the consolidation of an extensive amount of IT services under a single task order fulfilled by only one vendor has been challenging for the customer. Mr. Smith informed us, “The idea a decade ago or more was to consolidate everything because consolidation is better, but it didn’t work out so well.” Mr. Smith further detailed his frustration with the structure of the contract, adding, “When you do a Firm Fixed Price [FFP] contract of that size, you always get what you ask for, but not necessarily what you want,” suggesting that the organization of services under this task order may potentially have resulted in an inability for SAIC to fulfill services to the extent desired by the customer department. Importantly, this discrepancy is not likely due to the vendor’s unsatisfactory performance but is more accurately attributable to the poor structuring of the VANGUARD 2.2.1 task order on the part of government. 

In an additional conversation with DOS Contracting Officer Katherine Lugo, we were informed that for the EVOLVE IDIQ, “the intent is to make sure that the 2.2.1 contract and everything under that is covered,” and “the ceiling [value] is high enough that it could encompass other things.” This indicates that in addition to securing ongoing support for the services currently fulfilled by SAIC, DOS is also motivated to procure support for a variety of other IT contracts within DOS, further highlighting the customer department’s desire to transition away from a contract structure wherein a sole vendor is responsible for an extensive amount of holistic IT support. 

Additionally, regarding the government’s view of the incumbent, we note that SAIC has been awarded several other contracts within DOS since their involvement in the VANGUARD 2.2.1 requirement, such as an extensive Training and Curriculum Development effort for the Bureau of African Affairs, which speaks to the continually strengthening relationship between this vendor and DOS. Based on the totality of this feedback, SAIC appears to overall be viewed favorably by the customer however, due to the problematic contract structure, DOS intends to procure future IT support through multiple vendors specializing in a variety of service areas instead of relying only on support provided by a single contractor. This is further supported by Ms. Lugo’s statement that regarding to the EVOLVE IDIQ, “The best way you can think about it is solutions-based,” and IRM Director of Customer Support Todd Chenge’s feedback that going forward, DOS is striving for increased “accuracy” and “accountability.”

What Interested Vendors Should Know for DOS EVOLVE IDIQ

Preventing Shadow IT and other Unauthorized IT Activities – During our investigation into the priorities of IRM, AlphaBrook was informed of the importance of reducing shadow IT, which refers to the use of IT technology systems, devices, software, applications, and services without explicit IT department approval. Shadow IT occurs when employees rely on different applications from department to department and results in collaboration becoming inefficient. On this topic, IRM CIO Keith Jones stated, “Shadow IT – a lot of CIOs face that,” continuing, “That message is starting to come across and sink in where everyone understands that if we leverage these [applications/platforms/technologies] that we’ve established, then they don’t have to go through these rabbit holes in order to get things done and hide things. You know, one of the things I’ve been doing is really focusing on what’s sitting out there on the network and is it authorized, or if it’s not.” Based on this feedback, DOS is highly concerned with reducing unauthorized, shadow IT activity, therefore vendors interested in competing for the Evolve IDIQ could benefit from demonstrating in proposals strategies for increasing network security and reducing the likelihood of shadow IT.

Ability to Demonstrate Targeted IT Solutions – While engaging with DOS Contracting Officer Katherine Lugo, we inquired of the meaning behind the government's statement that a goal of this effort is to transition IT support within DOS to a project-based mentality instead of a technology-based one. In response, Ms. Lugo explained, “The best way you can think about it is solutions-based.” In a further conversation with IRM Director of Customer Support Todd Chenge, he also mentioned the need for vendors with demonstrable experience solving specific IT problems, advising, “I think benchmarking [capabilities] against private industry, then benchmarking against other federal agencies [is important],” continuing, “Most of our small business industry partners that I have seen, when they come in, and they are showing innovation, it’s not because they were just at another federal agency and deployed a similar technology – it’s that, ‘Hey, we did this for United Healthcare, and this provided an improved customer experience, or improved employee experience, or improved this, it had some efficiencies,’ and that, I think, is a value.” Given this information, vendors interested in supporting DOS on the EVOLVE IDIQ should be sure to demonstrate in a proposal experience supporting IT initiatives with an emphasis on their role in measurably improving processes or increasing efficiency.

Supporting DOS’ IT Needs through Cloud Capabilities – Further into our investigation into the EVOLVE IDIQ, we learned from IRM CIO Keith Jones, “One of the priorities that I’ve been talking about throughout since I’ve been there since January [2021], is customer centricity, so I think getting everyone into this cloud, multi-cloud platform, where they’re able to develop applications that benefit the posts [is important].” Explaining the reasoning for this shift, Mr. Jones stated, “It provides them the flexibility to address unique requirements, because each post, each embassy – they’re all doing something different. They may be able to leverage portions of it, but there’s certain aspects of it that they have to tailor to their own [use case],” signifying that “having them on the shared platform” will ensure the flexibility desperately needed by various DOS personnel, in turn driving efficiencies and better enabling DOS users to address mission needs. This information suggests that vendors interested in supporting DOS on the EVOLVE IDIQ could benefit from showcasing in a proposal experience supporting cloud migration initiatives, as well as demonstrating the technical knowledge needed to navigate the cloud environment and support cloud infrastructure.

Increasing Transparency and Accountability – During our discussion with IRM Director of Customer Support Todd Chenge, AlphaBrook questioned Mr. Chenge on the major goals of the EVOLVE IDIQ and he responded, “Accuracy, accountability, it’s more transparency, it’s better business practices, it’s what other industries have done and what other agencies are starting to do.” Mr. Chenge elaborated on this motivation, explaining, “Right now I think it’s a little bit obfuscated, so that as a bureau, IRM as a bureau, can’t adequately communicate at an executive level – or a C-level – what percentage of their work is under small or large business. I can, as a directorate, as a single directorate or ‘stack’ within the system, but across 24 different directorates, I don’t think that they have week to week, month to month, spend accuracy on whether or not [services are performed through] small business or large business activities.” CIO Keith Jones corroborated this need in reference to shadow IT within DOS by stating, “We don’t want them to go and develop things on the side and no one knows about it.” Thus, vendors interested in this opportunity would do well to demonstrate qualities that could be utilized to support this goal, such as strong organizational skills and rigorous documentation of IT processes and procedures.

Contributing to DOS IT Modernization Efforts – While engaging with IRM Director of Customer Support Todd Chenge, he mentioned to AlphaBrook the ongoing IT modernization efforts within IRM. He explained, “Department of State has been in this business since 1887 for adopting technology, and the only value to our agency of IRM as a bureau is the smooth transition into new technology for our diplomatic community. That’s a continuous journey; that’s just where we’re at. 150 years of working on it and I don’t think we’ve always matured or done it the best way and I think this [EVOLVE IDIQ] is an attempt to say, ‘Hey, let’s try a new way to do this so that we can more quickly, with less bureaucracy, more smoothly get technology to the diplomatic community.” CIO Keith Jones also discussed several potential opportunities for modernization within DOS, stating, “At State, think about 10,000 users teleworking within three weeks, at a department that really didn’t telework at all. That has just unveiled such a huge opportunity for business process re-engineering, whether its HR [human resources], financials, business apps, this, that and the other – so much opportunity,” emphasizing that there are continually new areas in which modernization and innovation could be applied. Mr. Jones also highlighted the expanding role of artificial intelligence (AI), stating, “Leveraging AI in the ATO process, where we’re able to do it in the end and really take this manual burden off and make serious headway getting ahead of that.” The totality of this feedback suggests that vendors interested in the EVOLVE IDIQ could benefit from showcasing in a proposal strategies to support ongoing DOS IT modernization efforts and capabilities in newly developing and highly sought-after areas, such as AI.

Implementing Automation to Increase Repatriation Efficiency – During our investigation into the EVOLVE IDIQ, AlphaBrook learned from CIO Keith Jones that a major project area in need of attention within IRM is the repatriation process, referring to the return of personnel to their own country. On this topic, Mr. Jones stated, “One of the things we’re looking at right now is repatriation, being able to truly automate and digitize those signatures when we repatriate individuals coming back in the country.” Mr. Jones added, “What tends to happen is weather conditions are so unpredictable that you just don’t know, and papers are sometimes lost for days or they get wet – this that and the other – and we have no record, and so therefore there’s no revenue coming back in because of that, at least immediately or in the near future.” Mr. Jones’ statements suggest that vendors interested in supporting DOS on the EVOLVE IDIQ could benefit from demonstrating in a proposal knowledge of technologies such as optical character recognition (O.C.R.) that could potentially be utilized to convert images of letters in documents to digital information, thereby improving the repatriation process.

Providing Support for Numerous, Globally Distributed Users – While discussing the pertinent IT issues within IRM, CIO Keith Jones stated that IRM supports more than “700 users across all posts, throughout the world,” and additionally, “We [IRM] have to work side by side with them [DOS customers] – whether it’s here in DC or whether it’s out at posts.” AlphaBrook’s independent research revealed that as of 2020, the State Department maintains 273 diplomatic posts worldwide, further evidencing the need for partnering with contractors with the capacity and experience managing IT projects that support users in isolated or challenging environments across the globe. IRM Director of Customer Support Todd Chenge, further informed us, “We process about 450,000 customer contacts a year, as far as like service-desk management, it’s not a small service desk by any measure of it, it’s roughly 30-40,000 customers supported.” Based on this feedback, it would behoove an interested vendor to demonstrate experience providing IT support to both local and remote users, as well as receptivity to diverse user needs which may vary depending on their location.

Read the Full Report

For contract details, even more information on current customer pain points, additional insights, and more on DOS EVOLVE IDIQ, access the full report. To learn more about how AlphaBrook can help your team gain a competitive advantage for other upcoming procurements, schedule a pressure-free demo with us.