This Request for Information (RFI) is issued as market research to determine industry’s capabilities to provide proven commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware solutions capable of delivering industry leading server and storage capabilities to be deployed globally to hundreds of sites.  The solutions must provide a commercially proven platform with transferrable components to meet specific Department of State (“Department”) requirements and use cases.  The solutions must also provide leading edge capability in the return merchandise authorization (RMA) process, only include hardware that implements cryptographic modules already certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cryptographic Module Validation Program, have silicon root of trust, and meet United States Government country of origin requirements.  Solution submittals must be backable by prepurchase proof of concept builds that may be evaluated by Department personnel at vendor facilities.

Additional specific capability requirements are enumerated in the attached document - Global Hardware-Request for Information

Questions are due no later then Wednesday, February 26 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time 

Please Note - Only full responses that address the requirements will be considered.  The Department will consider responses that merely include a capability statement as non-responsive. 

February 28, 2025 - Questions and Responses added