ASCEND BPA Pool 3

This is Market Research Only in accordance with FAR Part 10. This is not a solicitation. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) NOTICE ONLY. This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only and it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any actual procurement of materials or services. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely at the responding parties' expense. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. The Government will not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked and clearly identified. Proprietary information received in response to

this RFI will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1905). No determination as to the viability of this potential requirement has been made at this point and there is currently no solicitation for this effort. By responding to this market research you provide the Government permission to share your submitted capabilities and contract information with other Government organizations in relation to similar requirements for market research purposes.The General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Information Technology Category (ITC) would like to work with:Cloud-related IT professional service providers (e.g. industry, vendors)to assist in:Developing and validating the Ascend BPA Pool 3 scope and definition,Identifying key requirements (e.g., capabilities, functionality) to assist with future Performance Work Statement (PWS) development,Prioritizing and identifying the demand for the Pool 3 sub-pools, andUnderstanding the benefits, barriers, and challenges for the proposed sub-pool categories.The Ascend BPA Pool 3 will focus on cloud-related IT professional services. GSA has identified three priority sub-pools and is seeking feedback from cloud-related IT professional services providers.Application RationalizationThe Ascend BPA plans to establish a Pool 3 sub-pool for cloud-related IT professional services providing application rationalization to help agencies assess and prepare for the migration of applications and systems to commercial cloud solutions (i.e., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS). Application rationalization professional services will allow Ascend BPA eligible users to update and document existing applications and systems architectures, assess feasibility for moving to commercial cloud solutions, and develop the necessary inputs to allow for a well-planned migration and operational usage of commercial cloud services..Multi-Cloud ManagementThe Ascend BPA plans to establish a Pool 3 sub-pool for cloud-related IT professional services that provides expertise in establishing and managing the services to enable a multi-cloud framework and capabilities, to include:Cloud governance, standardization, and policy developmentDeployment automation / DevSecOpsIdentity and access management integrationCloud connectivityCloud security / Zero Trust ArchitectureCloud architectureMulti-cloud core servicesCloud Migration and OperationsThe Ascend BPA plans to establish a Pool 3 sub-pool for cloud-related IT professional services that provides expertise in cloud migration and operations. This sub-pool will focus on migration of applications and systems to specific cloud environments used by Ascend BPA eligible users and the subsequent operations and maintenance of the services.GSA encourages all cloud-related IT professional service providers who are interested in the Ascend BPA Pool 3 cloud related IT professional services sub-pools to review and complete the applicable Market Research as a Service (MRAS) questionnaire by no later than 11:59 PM ET on March 29, 2024.Cloud-related IT professional service providers MRAS URL: https://feedback.gsa.gov/jfe/form/SV_d1iD1i0pAWtUROmGSA will ONLY accept responses submitted by completing the RFI / MRAS questionnaire.Please continue to monitor SAM.gov and the GSA Interact Cloud and Software Community (https://buy.gsa.gov/interact/community/205/activity-feed) for additional information.Please send all email correspondence related to this procurement to: cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov.