This is a Sources Sought Announcement issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Research Service (ARS) for informational and planning purposes only. This is NOT a solicitation, nor is it an announcement for a forthcoming solicitation. The purpose is to conduct market research to gain knowledge of potentially qualified sources. Responses to this notification will help to determine the acquisition strategy for any future solicitation. Responses will help determine whether any type of small business set-aside contractors are available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below or whether full and open competitive procedures should be utilized. This is not a Solicitation Announcement or Request for Quotation (RFQ). It does not constitute any commitment or obligation by the Government. No award will result from this notice. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will not award a contract based on responses or pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice.
Response is strictly voluntary - it is not mandatory to submit a response to this notice to participate in any formal RFQ process that may take place in the future. However, it should be noted that information gathered through this notice may significantly influence our acquisition strategy. All interested parties will be required to respond separately to any solicitations posted because of this sources sought notice.
The USDA, ARS, Grape Genetics Research Unit (GGRU), Geneva, New York research location is conducting market research for the following:
Annual renewable (5 years) annual maintenance and research server support of three data storage servers and three computational servers for Storage and Computing of Grapevine Sequencing Data and Imaging Data, managed by Cornell University’s Bioinformatics Facility. Must include hardware coverage, plus technical support, 24 Hour Cross ship including 2-way shipping coverage, for providing and supporting the following: Genomics storage server, Genomics Computational server, Computer Vision Data storage system. Ongoing support to continue to maintain past and future Sequencing data used to evaluate the genomic basis of traits and levels of gene expression in plant tissue responding to treatments. The Imaging data is used to identify traits for genetic improvement.
The annual renewable support and maintenance must provide and support the following:
1. Genomics storage server
a. Linux installation
2. Genomics Computational server
a. Linux installation
3. Computer Vision Data storage system
a. Five (5) years of hardware coverage, plus technical support, 24 Hour Cross ship including 2-way shipping coverage.
b. Linux Installation
c. Operating system drive must be 1.92 TB NVMe.
d. Extra Storage must be at least 3x 1.92 TB | U.2 | MVMe
e. Warranty and support for annually renewable hardware coverage, plus technical support
Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government, would not be cost or time prohibitive, and would not hinder the mission objective of the ARS research location. Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested.
Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a brief Capabilities Statement (no more than 3 pages) which, for this notice, is not expected to be a proposal, but rather short statements regarding the company’s ability to demonstrate their expertise and experience in relation to the areas specified in this notice.
RESPONSE SUBMISSION. Interested contractors are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought notification not later than 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST) on or before July 14 , 2025 to the attention of Monte Jordan, Contract Specialist, at monte.jordan@usda.gov. Telephone inquiries will NOT be accepted. Late responses will not be accepted. This is strictly market research, and the Government will not entertain any questions.
Responses must include the following:
- Organization Name.
- Contact Name, email address, and phone number.
- Organization’s SAM Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Number.
- Business size status for the applicable NAICS code.
- Tailored capability statement addressing the salient characteristics listed.
Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. No proprietary classified confidential or sensitive information shall be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). The USDA will not review any additional information. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. The government is not responsible for locating or securing any information not identified in the response. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
