CDM Task Order Draft RFPs are Being Released

by Ray Miles, PMP, Alliance Manager

Agencies have already begun implementing the initial phase of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program under blanket purchase agreements (BPA) that were awarded in August 2013. The General Services Administration (GSA) is the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) partner in offering CDM products across government. DHS oversees development of overall agency requirements while GSA oversees procurement, operation, and maintenance.

Earlier this month, the DHS hosted the Continuous Monitoring as a Service (CMaaS) Vendor Industry Day in Washington D.C. to discuss the future of the CDM program. This forum brought together CDM BPA contract holders and their partners to hear from the CDM program team.

John Streufert, Director, Federal Network Resilience at DHS and a leader in the CDM program was one of eight members of the CDM team that spoke at the event. Joining him were:

• Cristen Cole, FEDSIM COR, GSA
• Tom Clines, Federal Network Resilience Logistician, DHS
• Jim Piché, FEDSIM Group Manager, GSA
• Matt Hartman, Federal Network Resilience, DHS
• Betsy Proch, Federal Network Resilience, DHS
• Sara Mosley, Federal Network Resilience Branch Chief, DHS
• Mark Kneidinger, Sr. Advisor, Federal Network Resilience, DHS

The panel opened with the Task Order 2 Groupings and Acquisition Schedule which showed the timeline for agency rollout. The estimated dates shown by GSA’s Jim Piché clarified that group A & B draft RFPs would be released in late Q3 of FY2014, group C draft RFPs would be released in late Q1 FY2015, and groups D-F draft RFPs would be released in two week increments thereafter.

The outcome of these proposals would be the award of six task orders, one award per grouping as a single award to a single Prime. In Piché’s view, this approach reduces the amount of time required to set up the acquisition, actually release the solicitation, and then evaluate responses.

Also discussed was the process for implementing the work to be performed once contracts were awarded. Mosley spoke to agency considerations that each contractor would need to be aware of during the implementation process, which included support from operational resources to ensure equipment being implemented would integrate with the infrastructure in place. Primes would also need to ensure they have CMaaS Integrator physical and logical access before beginning the implementation.

While this event certainly answered some questions about the CDM program rollout, there are still gaps to fill and I would expect more clarity coming from GSA and DHS by early Summer.

To learn how to win CDM business contact us at CDMBPA@immixgroup.com.