The Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Office of Information Technology has a requirement for engineering, implementation, and transition services.

TSA’s IT infrastructure and customers are currently supported by the Information Technology Management, Performance Analysis, and Collaborative Technologies (IMPACT) II Task Order (TO). TSA’s IT infrastructure includes a full range of services and solutions necessary to support the TSA mission. Additionally, included is support to analyze requirements, develop and implement recommended solutions, and the capability to operate and maintain legacy systems and equipment.

TSA utilizes a hybrid environment, with multiple clouds and datacenters / server rooms. TSA supports approximately 60,000 Government employees at various locations, including TSA Headquarters (HQ) in Springfield, VA; approximately 600 airports and Federal Security Director (FSD) offices; international support sites; and numerous other mission critical centers and locations. Approximately 85 percent of TSA users are a combination of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and Federal Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), while other TSA staff includes TSA HQ employees and field security operations management and administrative support personnel, who may have various remote or telework arrangements. TSA also supports approximately 10,000 contractor staff at TSA and remote locations.

• The objectives of TSA and the CIO are the following and are ever-evolving.
  • Operate and maintain TSA’s IT capabilities and assume responsibility for any identified, planned, and on-going work without a break in service.
  • Manage and maintain on-going relationships with TSA’s technology providers for services such as data center, network, Anything as a Service (XaaS), application development, and cloud services to ensure service availability and continuity across the TSA IT enterprise, without a break in service.
  • Design and implement TSA-directed system and infrastructure changes (e.g. new technologies and/or capabilities) and integrate them into the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) support model.
  • Execute an IT service delivery model that meets TSA’s service level requirements in a consistent, timely, and effective manner while providing reliable, sustainable, and standards-based technology.
  • Provide program management activities and other general contract management services needed to achieve the cost, schedule and performance requirements specified under the contract and achieve the previously stated objectives.
  • Identify and propose quantifiable enhancements to improve TSA IT infrastructure and decrease cost and risk for the Government.

The scope of work for this effort includes:

• TALON will provide TSA with engineering, integration, testing, implementation, and transition services.  The overarching objectives that the Contractor must meet the implementation of TALON are as follows:
  • IT Domain Engineering – Provide enterprise engineering across core IT domains—including servers; enterprise and mobile applications; development, test, and production environments; local and wide area networks; hosting and cloud platforms; collaboration and communications; telecommunications; data and analytics; and security architecture and controls—to plan, design, integrate, test, implement, and transition TSA requirements. Coordinate cutovers and handoffs with the O&M contractor.  Operation and maintenance of the IT domains is NOT within the scope of this contract.
  • Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance:  Identify and propose quantifiable improvements to improve TSA’s IT infrastructure and reduce cost and risk, including alternatives analyses, business cases, total cost of ownership (TCO) assessments, and phased implementation and transition.
• Major Functional Areas: Task orders will span the breadth of engineering and cloud services and encompass the hardware, software, and applications supporting those services.  The areas include:
  • System Design and Architecture (IT/OT)
    • Engineer on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud architectures, including security, data, control systems, and integration patterns for interoperability with external partners.
  • Security Engineering
    • Support for all TALON TSA systems including incorporating DHS and TSA policies and standards, minimizing security risks and vulnerabilities, performing POA&M remediation, providing documentation to demonstrate remediation and mitigation activities, and performing technical support for ISSOs to ensure TALON systems remain in compliance and secure.
    • Ensure solutions align with DHS and TSA policies and standards for Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM)
  • Modernization and Migration
    • Architecture redesign, capability insertions, refactoring, cloud migrations, and hybrid integrations; decommission infrastructure and services as directed.
  • System Upgrades and Lifecycle Engineering
    • Plan and engineer upgrades to hardware, software, network, and service components; develop lifecycle and replacement recommendations and transition packages for O&M execution.
    • Develop, test, and deploy server and workstation images.
  • Implementation and Deployment Support
    • Plan and execute pre-production engineering, lab validation, cutover runbooks, and implementation support, complete handoff to O&M with training and documentation.
  • Communication Systems Upgrades and Integration
    • Engineer upgrades and integrations to voice, video, and data systems aligned with IT/OT architectures and security requirements.
  • Transition and Restoration Services
    • Contractor conducted Operational Readiness Review to formalize transition.
    • Limited restoration support for systems post-transition to reinforce technical training pre-transition.
  • Research, Innovation, and Modernization
    • Conduct research, testing, analyses of alternatives, cost/benefit studies, and demonstrations.
    • Provide feedback or recommendations for information and operational technology improvements.
  • System Integration and Optimization
    • Perform engineering analysis to improve reliability, performance, scale, and cyber posture; provide tuning and configuration recommendations to O&M.
  • Capability Development and Testing
    • Define requirements, design new capabilities, and conduct Verification and Validation (V&V) in lab and pre-production environments (e.g., test environments, cloud dev/stage, labs).
  • Voice, Video, and Data Communications
    • Engineer and integrate Cellular, Wi-Fi, VoIP, VTC, collaboration platforms (e.g., Teams, WebEx, UCS) across IT/OT environments; ensure reliability, security, and interoperability.
  • ITSM/ITOM Process Engineering (ServiceNow)
    • Develop standard engineering processes aligned to relevant frameworks (e.g., change/release/configuration from an engineering perspective) to support O&M execution.
    •  ITSM/ITOM platform enhancements focused on increasing automation, standardization, and transparency in IT service delivery and operational management processes.
    • Potential platform enhancements to support additional organizational functions, such as Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) or Human Resources (HR), to enable broader integration and operational efficiency with ITSM and ITOM platform.
  • Training and Knowledge Transfer
    • Develop and deliver training materials, updated runbooks, and transition documentation to enable successful O&M execution.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning
    • Analyze AI/ML where it delivers clear mission value and efficiency gains, including requirements analysis, data preparation, and prototyping.  Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) for version control, monitoring, and rollback. Initial focus areas may include anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, document/media processing, and workflow automation. Solutions will incorporate appropriate privacy, security, auditability, operator training, and sustainment plans with measurable outcomes.
    • Deliver integration with existing systems via secure interfaces and test and evaluation against defined performance baselines.