Annual AFNET License Support

1. Introduction

The government has a reoccurring annual requirement for software license renewals, software product support renewals, and hardware product support renewals ("License and Support Renewals").  The proposed actions will continue to support the system as designed and fielded, by renewing the licenses and support for the Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products currently integrated into fielded weapon systems.

2. Disclaimers

This is a Request for Information (RFI), as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e). Any information submitted by respondents to this request is strictly voluntary. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), or Invitation for Bid (IFB), and issuing it does not obligate or restrict the U.S. Government from issuing an RFP, RFQ, or IFB in the future. The U.S. Government does not intend to award a contract or order based on responses to this RFI. Non-participation does not preclude participation in any future RFP, RFQ, or IFB.

Respondents are advised that all costs associated with responding to this RFI, including information preparation, use, travel, and administrative expenses, will be incurred entirely by the interested parties.  The U.S. Government shall not pay or reimburse for any costs.

Information received from this RFI will be used for planning and market research purposes. As such, any response submitted to this RFI constitutes consent for that submission to be reviewed by military personnel, Government civilians, imbedded AFLCMC/HNI DoD contractors, and Federally Funded Research and Development Corporations (FFRDCs) or University Affiliated Research Corporations (UARC).

Supporting this requirement are ARS (Applied Research), Odyssey consulting, COLSA, Quantech and Astrion.  The responses may be forwarded to other Government entities in consideration for applicability to other programs. 

Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be properly protected from disclosure.

All DoD contractor and FFRDC personnel reviewing RFI responses will have signed non-disclosure agreements and understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information. The U.S. Government shall not be liable for damages related to proprietary information that is not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable U.S. Government regulations. 

Respondents should be aware that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback on RFI submissions. Issuance of this RFI does not obligate or restrict the U.S. Government to any future acquisition approach.

3. Unified Capabilities Overview

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) operates the Air Force Information Network (AFIN) with numerous Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products that are integrated together to meet technical requirements. This results in a system of systems which together make up the larger AFIN.

4. RFI Purpose

The government seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Can any contractors provide the same or similar services as the ones listed in the attachment for each Original Equipment Manufacturer?

2. Is it correct that only resellers with the approval to provide brand name materials and service packages are capable of developing, compiling, integrating, and deploying vulnerability patches and updates that require proprietary source code and proprietary knowledge?

3. Are there any opportunities to improve our network capabilities by allowing a third party to provide service to the Original Equipment Manufacturers listed on the attachment to this RFI?