SOCOM seeks common PaaS environment to support testing and fielding of new tech
U.S. Special Operations Command is conducting market research as it looks to fulfill a requirement for a common platform-as-a-service environment near its headquarters.
The command is eyeing an “integrated contracting vehicle” for the initiative, according to a draft performance work statement published Wednesday night on a government contracting website.
A common PaaS environment is needed near MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, to enable collaboration among traditional and non-traditional vendors, users, and government program teams, per the draft PWS.
The SOF Acquisition, Technology and Logistics directorate “requires an integrated contracting vehicle to rapidly discover, assess, prototype, integrate, test, and field mission‑relevant technologies and software-intensive capabilities across multiple Program Executive Offices and operational contexts,” officials wrote in the document, adding that the vehicle would boost Joint Acquisition Task Force research and experimentation, “digital applications platform services” for PEO SOF Digital Applications, and “system-of-systems” integration for PEO Tactical Information Systems.
Officials also seek assurance of cybersecurity Risk Management Framework compliance as well as “market analytics” to monitor, evaluate and incorporate commercial capabilities.
The contract vehicle would encompass mission support platform services, integration facility operations, engineering support services, cybersecurity RMF, network connectivity, hardware/software support, data access coordination, documentation, and delivery of technical findings, according to the draft PWS.
The engineering support services would require software engineers, among other labor categories, focused on cloud‑native solutions and design, coding and testing, among other tasks.
An objective is to operate a “cutting‑edge integration test platform (open and operationally representative environments) to verify communication, data exchange, security/privacy, performance/scalability, resilience/redundancy, emergent behaviors, and change/configuration management” across PEO Tactical Information Systems programs, according to the draft PWS.
Another objective is to deliver “end‑to‑end RMF support” to achieve and maintain authority to operate (ATO) in line with Defense Department, SOCOM and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidance, including “system categorization, control selection/implementation/assessment, RMF documentation, body‑of‑evidence artifacts, A&A coordination, continuous monitoring, risk analysis, and lifecycle integration of requirements.”
Responses to the RFI are due Nov. 5.
