The U.S. Coast Guard is "overwhelmed" by the daunting task of updating its legacy IT infrastructure and wants to know how industry can help.

USGC Command, Control, Communications, Computer and IT Service Center (C4ITSC) issued a request for information and scheduled an industry day to get feedback from vendors about a potential request for proposals, looking for input on the private sector's capabilities and offerings and whether any of those exist on current governmentwide contract vehicles.

Download: USCG IT Infrastructure RFI and Q&A Session

"C4ITSC is overwhelmed by the challenges associated with operating and maintaining an IT infrastructure that evolved over time in a patchwork fashion while attempting to design, engineer and deploy future infrastructure and systems that support the rapidly growing demand for secure information availability anytime, anywhere and anyplace," according to the RFI.

"The future USCG IT infrastructure must have the ability to support daily operations and the ability to scale and support surge operations," such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Hurricane Sandy or the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

The IT transformation effort has three objectives:

  • Protect USCG data at rest and deliver information securely;
  • Increase workforce productivity and improve customer satisfaction; and
  • Provide initial cost reductions and offer future cost avoidance opportunities.

The RFI includes three questions to industry, asking how companies would address the three objectives, what additional information should be in a RFP and existing government contracts that could meet USGC's needs.

Responses are due by 2 p.m. on May 16.

Vendors can also attend a question and answer session with USCG contracting officers on April 26. Session details are included in the RFI; interested vendors should RSVP by April 20.

About Aaron Boyd

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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