What Interested Vendors Should Note for the Upcoming DOI IBC Foundation Cloud Hosting Services (FCHS) Effort

Opportunity Summary 

Department of the Interior (DOI) Interior Business Center (IBC) has an ongoing multiple-award IDIQ contract for Foundation Cloud Hosting Services (FCHS) and may have a continuing need for these services. The contract provides support through the DOI Virtual Data Center (VDC) and is available to all of DOI and all federal agencies. Specific requirements include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and some Software as a Service (SaaS) deployments. We also note that, while the US Geological Survey (USGS) procurement office released a separate Cloud Hosting Services RFI in February 2019, stakeholders indicated that a separate acquisition is not moving forward, and that the RFI was likely an early market research effort most closely related to a future iteration of the FCHS program, and thus all of USGS’ cloud hosting needs will likely be performed under FCHS.

Hot Buttons Vendors Should Outline in Their Proposals Relevant to FCHS

  • Ensuring Cloud-Related Cybersecurity 

  • Integrating Cloud and On-Premises Solutions

  • Ensuring Fast Connection Between Cloud Locations

  • Organizing On-Premises Data and Systems for the Cloud

  • Delivering the Value-Add of Cloud Hosting

* For an in-depth overview and a multitude of direct quoted statements based on feedback from DOI CISO Jack Donnelly, USGS Associate CIO Tim Quinn, and DOI CIO Bill Vajda on the above hot buttons, view the full report. 

Performance of the Incumbent Contractors

To obtain information regarding the performance of the incumbent contractors on this effort, AlphaBrook identified and made outreach to dozens of DOI stakeholders. We first note that Unisys was one of the original contractors, but it was acquired by SAIC in March 2020. We also note Verizon’s and Lockheed Martin’s contracts were allowed to expire in April 2016 and April 2018, respectively. IBC Acquisition Services Directorate Branch Chief Tonya Lovelace affirmed this as accurate, stating, “Right, there’s eight vendors now.” AlphaBrook then asked Ms. Lovelace if the FCHS IDIQ has been successful overall, to which she responded, “I would think so.” When we asked if any aspects of the incumbent program have failed to meet expectations, she responded, “No, not really,” and added, “I don’t think anything’s particularly bad. Overall, I think it’s a great program, and I think we’ve done well with it.” 

AlphaBrook also engaged with IBC Contracting Officer Christopher Morningstar regarding performance on this contract. He noted, "If you look at growth [in terms of spending] as a metric, then yeah, it’s going well. If you’re looking at [the] number of vehicles [contractors on the IDIQ] that were successful I think we had a high percentage that were successful” though “we did have a high percentage that did not make it,” in reference to Verizon and Lockheed Martin. Mr. Morningstar continued, "When we awarded this in 2013, we only had like two [task order] awards in the first year, and I would say less than a handful the second year. And it grew slowly through 2016 and 2017 and then 2018 it just kind of started taking off. Maybe when it was awarded it was a good thing, because it gave time for word of mouth to get around, success stories to get around. But on the other side, it seems like people just weren’t ready to [adopt] cloud back then, and now in the last three to four years, they have been really changing their approach to how open they are to it." Despite the successes of the vehicle, Mr. Morningstar noted, “I was involved in several orders that we had to terminate early or not exercise options because things weren’t going well” and concluded, “So it hasn’t been 100% successful, but it has been growing, and lately it’s been, like, exponentially [growing], so I think people are finally getting comfortable with the idea of moving to the cloud.” 

AlphaBrook also conducted a thorough analysis of spending on the incumbent IDIQ contracts in order to identify the strongest contractors. Our research revealed that Smartronix, with a reported spending to date of $94M, has earned significantly more than any other vendor on the IDIQ. SAIC has earned the second-most, with $71.4M in reported spending, CGI third with $51.3M, and Zivaro fourth with $22.5M. Five of the contractors – Autonomic Resources, Aquilent, AT&T, Lockheed Martin, and Verizon – have thus far failed to reach $10M in reported spending on the IDIQ. Nevertheless, Ms. Lovelace’s assessment that “it’s a great program and I think we’ve done well with it” indicates that the incumbent contractors appear to have at least satisfactorily met the requirements of the current contract. Considering this intelligence, vendors should consider Smartronix, SAIC, CGI Federal, and Zivaro as the strongest and most competitive of the incumbent vendors.

Recent Developments:

While conducting follow-up research into this effort, we sought to determine the current status of this opportunity. In doing so, we learned from Contracting Officer Vickie Floyd that a “final solicitation” is expected “on or about August 9th [2022],” and the “final contract” is expected to be “awarded” in the “first quarter” of the 2023 “calendar year.” She further informed us that this effort will have a “maximum” value of “$1B.” 

As we continue to monitor the progression of the FCHS procurement, we will record all developments within our VoicedIQ™ platform. To learn how to stay up-to-date on this effort and gain a competitive advantage over your competitors, schedule a pressure-free demo with us. 

Monica Cardona