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INTRODUCTION The Program Executive Office, Command, Control and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T), Product Manager, Tactical Cyber and Network Operations (PdM TCNO) and Army Contracting Command, Aberd... INTRODUCTION The Program Executive Office, Command, Control and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T), Product Manager, Tactical Cyber and Network Operations (PdM TCNO) and Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC APG) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support the requirement for the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) capable Army of tomorrow must have a Unified Network that enables our Army, as part of the Joint/Coalition Force, to integrate and operate simultaneously and seamlessly in all domains, all environments, across all geographies, and all warfighting functions and enables the Army to calibrate a force posture and converge capabilities at the point of need (right place/right time). The conflicts of tomorrow will be non-linear and contested at all echelons and on a global scale with the homeland no longer a sanctuary free from adversary kinetic or non-kinetic attacks. As part of the network modernization plan, the Army is unifying its tactical and enterprise networks. This unified network will provide a seamless, integrated network management capability to simplify user experience, increase situational awareness, and strengthen cyber network defense. Under a unified network, communication officers (S6/G6) from the tactical edge through corps level will have fewer network management and monitoring applications and tools to manage, enhancing their ability to plan, configure, manage, monitor, and secure/defend the network. BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES (IN FULL OR IN PART) OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION, and multiple awards MAY be made. All Small Business Set-Aside categories will be considered. Please note that under a Small-Business Set-Aside, in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, the small business prime must perform at least 50% of the work themselves in terms of the cost of performance. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Location On-Site Government % Off-Site Contractor % Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland Other locations will be provided in PWS - TBD DISCLAIMER “THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)” TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR RFP, IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT.” PROGRAM BACKGROUND The Unified Network Operations (UNO), is designated as the Program of Record (PoR). The delivery of UNO capabilities to execute required Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) operations functions will address their guidance to provide an available, reliable, and resilient network that commanders can employ as a weapons system in all operational environments against any adversary. Use of the Department of Defense Information Network-Army (DODIN-A) relies upon UNO capabilities which are also synchronized with Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) capabilities to sustain freedom of maneuver during Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)/Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO). UNO provides the network and systems management capabilities to design, plan, model & simulate, secure, configure, operate, extend, maintain, and sustain the DODIN-A. UNO’s approach requires the Army to address the network holistically-fully integrating both tactical and enterprise (strategic) network segments in one Unified Network (UN). The UNO capabilities to perform these functions will be employed across theater strategic fixed infrastructure (posts/camps/stations) supporting Combatant Commands (CCs), Army Service Component Commands (ASCCs), and down to the lowest tactical echelon increasing integration between each echelon and will unify them within and across the Common Operating Environment’s (COEs) Computing Environments (CEs). UNO provides two of the COE cross-cutting capabilities, DODIN operations (formerly referred to as Network Operations [NetOps] and Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM), formerly referred to as Identity and Access Management [IdAM]), and will leverage other COE cross-cutting capabilities (e.g., unified data, Standard Shareable Geospatial Foundation (SSGF)) to ensure that stand alone or disparate DODIN operations capabilities do not get developed. UNO will deliver an integrated network operations (NetOps) capability, based on an open framework aggregating data that enables common planning, configuration, management, monitoring, and defense of the network. This will be accomplished through the integration, co-hosting, and federation of multiple NetOps systems from hand-held devices to the Enterprise. UNO will co-host and federate existing tactical NetOps capabilities developed for the Tactical Network into a standardized NetOps capability for the S6/G6 and S3/G3 staff of Signal organizations responsible for planning, installing, operating, securing/ defending, and maintaining deployed tactical networks. UNO aligns with the Army's intent to develop NetOps prototypes, conduct development operations (DevOps), collect user feedback, refine Government off-the Shelf/Commercial off-the-Shelf (GOTS)/(COTS) applications, and ultimately deliver enhanced capabilities to the operational force in the shortest time possible using what is available in industry or through other government agencies through an adapt-and-buy approach based on experimentation and demonstration. Product Manager Tactical Cyber & Network Operations has been executing under Section 804 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, a Rapid Prototype Mid-Tier Acquisition (MTA) program for UNO as risk reduction in preparation for the formal UNO Program of record to be approved. As part of the MTA, PdM TCNO entered into Other-Transaction Authorities and Blanket Purchase Agreements enabling PdM TCNO to continually assess experimentation results and Soldier feedback to see how the UNO prototypes developed under the MTA could potentially support a more mature system that we could eventually field across the force. The MTA has enabled the program office to conduct ongoing experiments and use a developmental operations construct that puts developers alongside Soldiers and commanders in operational units. The Soldiers put the UNO capabilities through their paces in training and field exercises, and we incorporate their feedback to continually inform requirements. This incremental development process enabled our team to evaluate new technology concepts and potential solutions earlier and more frequently, collect feedback in real time, and rapidly generate new requirements as needed. Under the UNO MTA, the program office has been working to deliver an integrated NetOps capability, based upon an open framework, aggregating data that enables common planning, configuration, management, monitoring, and defense of the Network. The UNO MTA has been comprised of several components, which are described below: 1. Application Programming Interface (API): The UNO API capability will be designed to support the key Tactical UNO goal of reducing the workload on the Soldiers who use the network while enhancing their ability to better leverage the network as a warfighting platform. The API will enable contracted vendors to meet technical parameters required by UNO, which will ultimately reduce system integration and re-development of the COTS software procured by the Army. UNO API is the single interface middleware for all components to exchange information between each other, including both transient/ephemeral and persistent information as depicts in Figure 1.0. 2. Data Repository (Information Repository Integrated System (IRIS)): A distributed repository that serves as the authoritative source of, and exchange mechanism for NetOps data between disparate systems in order to plan, manage and operate the Army’s tactical network. IRIS consists of a distributed data store, APIs, and software to enable the dissemination of initialization and operational state (future) data to the distributed systems performing NetOps functions to command and control the network. 3. Network Operations Management System (NOMS): Improve NetOps capabilities to manage, monitor and operate the tactical portion of DoDIN-A. NOMS will integrate and/or replace existing network element managers and system monitors that comprise the current Upper Tactical Internet (UTI). This capability will enable Soldiers to secure, operate, maintain and sustain the UTI DoDIN-A. 4. Unified Planner: An integrated network planning system to integrate and/or replace existing network element planners. The planning system will have the primary responsibility for planning and creation of configuration files for the network elements that comprise the tactical DoDIN-A. The planning system will have open extensible interfaces for the exchange of data with external systems required to enable Soldiers to secure, operate, and maintain the DoDIN-A. 5. Radio Planner (Atom): Atom replaces the Army version of the Joint Enterprise Network Manager (JENM) software for planning, managing, and monitoring of current and future Tactical Radios and waveforms in the lower tactical internet (LTI). This prototype will be capable of operating on a variety of hardware platforms and operational domains, including ground, airborne and maritime. 6. Integrated NetOps Battalion & Below (INB2): The INB2 Software provides monitoring and management of the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) network components architecture. This effort provides monitoring and management at the Battalion and Company echelons. INB2 at the Battalion echelon allows for remote management capability down to the Company echelon.