ITC is progressing with the phased acquisition of the Ascend Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), a governmentwide, multiple-award BPA that will allow agencies to buy secure commercial cloud services to modernize and replace legacy enterprise IT services and products. Ultimately, the complete Ascend BPA will offer commercial Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and cloud-related IT professional services. GSA will conduct additional market research for Pools 2 and 3, which includes SaaS and cloud-related IT Professional Services.
The market research will be issued as requests for information (RFIs) through the FAS Market Research as a Service program. This will assist ITC with defining the acquisition strategy for Pool 2 and 3 sub-pools as follows:
- Understanding the benefits, barriers, and challenges
- Determining the extent of competition and opportunities for small businesses
- Identifying potential vendors capable of performing the work
These RFIs supplement what ITC learned through RFIs issued in March 2024.
GSA is proposing the establishment of an Ascend Pool 3 sub-pool for cloud-related IT professional services providing application rationalization to help agencies assess and prepare for the migration of current application / systems portfolios to cloud environments. These services will allow GSA customers to update and document existing application / system architectures, assess feasibility for moving to cloud, and develop the necessary inputs to allow for a well-planned migration and operational posture.
Multi-cloud Management
GSA is proposing the establishment of an Ascend 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:
- Multi-Cloud governance, standardization, and policy development
- Deployment automation / DevSecOps
- Identity and access management integration
- Multi-Cloud connectivity
- Multi-Cloud security / Zero Trust Architecture
- Multi-Cloud architecture
- Multi-Cloud core services
Cloud Migration and Operations
GSA is proposing the establishment of an Ascend Pool 3 sub-pool for cloud-related IT professional services that provides expertise in cloud migration and operations. Professional Services will include the following:
- Design solutions around future state recommendations
- Detailed guidance on tools and processes
- ATO support
- Enterprise Solution Architecture services
- DevSecOps services
- Access to Flexible Application Platforms
- Continuity of Operations services
As we move into the acquisition strategy phase, we will prepare communications and rollout plans for Pools 2 and 3, keeping you informed around major acquisition milestones and releases with additional notifications.
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