MARINE CORPS ENTERPRISE NETWORKS (MCEN) EVENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (MEMS)

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document contains government responses to a Request for Information (RFI) regarding a proposed solution for the Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) Management System (MEMS).

• On-Premises Operation: The government requires the proposed solution to operate entirely on-premises with zero dependency on vendor-operated cloud infrastructure. Outbound network connections to vendor cloud services are disqualifying.
• AI/ML and Analytics: AI/ML analytics, anomaly detection, and automated baselining functions must run fully on-premises and are a mandatory requirement.
• Data Handling: No telemetry, configuration, or metadata collected from MCEN devices will transit vendor infrastructure. All technical support, help desk personnel, and engineers with access to MCEN data or systems must be U.S. citizens holding active security clearances; offshore or third-country-national support is explicitly prohibited.
• Accreditation: An existing, current Authority to Operate (ATO) or Provisional Authorization (PA) for an on-premises deployment at IL5 and IL6 is required at the time of proposal submission.
• Ownership: The prime contractor and all subcontractors must be U.S.-owned companies. Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) mitigation agreements will be required if FOCI exists.
• Single Platform Preference: While a single, natively integrated platform is preferred for all capability areas, solutions with a multi-tool approach will also be reviewed. However, solutions requiring additional labor to manage/operate multiple tools will be evaluated with a reduction.
• Tactical Edge Operations: Remote data collection components must locally collect, store, and buffer telemetry during WAN disconnections, with a minimum of 72 hours of buffer capacity, and automatically resync upon reconnection without data loss.
• Licensing: The government has no preference for licensing models (node-based, element-based, consumption-based, etc.) and will evaluate costs separately from technical capability. Solutions with uncapped data ingestion or consumption-based billing will be evaluated for total cost of ownership.
• Support: 24x7 technical support must be provided exclusively by U.S. citizens holding active Secret or higher clearances, with no offshore escalation paths. Proof of clearance level is required.
• Deployment: All acceptable architectural deployment models include containerized microservices, virtual appliances, traditional server-based deployments, or managed platform approaches. High availability should be built into the solution itself.

This document provides critical clarifications on technical, security, operational, and contractual requirements. Bidders must ensure their proposals directly address these detailed government responses, particularly regarding on-premises operation, data security, U.S. citizenship requirements for personnel, and the preference for a single integrated platform.

Request for Information (RFI)

This RFI is issued by the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) for informational and planning purposes to conduct market research regarding the Marine Corps Enterprise Networks (MCEN) Event Management System (MEMS). It does not commit the Government to a contract or solicitation. The goal is to determine the availability and technical capability of sources to meet specified requirements.

The MEMS aims to provide a single solution to monitor all events on the MCEN, capturing telemetry for behavioral and attitudinal performance indicators. This includes network traffic analysis, service reliability, application performance, user experience, system usability, and net promoter scores. The system must support enterprise network service monitoring, extend to the tactical edge, discover, monitor, and mitigate vulnerabilities, and function autonomously when disconnected.

The document outlines extensive requirements for the MEMS, categorized as follows:

• General Requirements: Integration of all requirements into a single solution, security accreditation (IL5/IL6), on-premise/hybrid operation, dynamic discovery, real-time visualization, vulnerability monitoring, autonomous syncing, role-based access, API integration, and situational awareness dashboard integration.

• Core Monitoring Capabilities: Monitoring of routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and other SNMP-enabled devices; availability, latency, load, threats, connectivity; network events; QoS; application status; OS performance; cyber warnings; and Section Board Controller (SBC).

• Network Discovery: Discovery of devices via SNMP and ICMP, IP address ranges, subnets, individual IPs, and Active Directory integration.

• Graphical User Interface & Customization: Multi-user access, horizontal scaling, customizable web pages, unified alert views, custom dashboards, audit logging, interactive charting, and PDF export.

• Platform Security: TLS 1.2 compatibility, enterprise virtualization-based security, agentless deployment, and support for on-prem, cloud, and multi-cloud systems.

• NetFlow Data and Traffic Analysis: Monitoring network traffic, identifying bandwidth consumers (users, applications, protocols), classifying data, and monitoring CBQoS.

• Network Device Configuration Management: Automatic configuration backup, bulk changes, change detection, comparison against approved configurations, real-time alerts for changes, and policy violation detection.

• Applications and Services Monitoring: Monitoring application status, performance, OS performance, services, processes, and hardware. Includes automated workflows for events and integration with ticketing tools.

• Cloud Monitoring Capability: Discovery and monitoring of cloud instances (EC2, EBS), enterprise cloud services, and cloud container deployments.

• Virtualization Infrastructure Environment Management: Heterogeneous hypervisor management, performance and capacity monitoring, proactive detection of bottlenecks, VM placement optimization, and VM sprawl control.

• Call Center Traffic Quality Management: Monitoring VoIP/landline performance, call paths, MOS, jitter, latency, packet loss, and CDR/CMR data.

• Questions Deadline: 07 May 2026, 14:00 PM Eastern Time.

• Response Deadline: 28 May 2026, 14:00 PM Eastern Time.

• Format: MS Word 2013 or higher, or PDF.

• File Size Limit: 2MB per email, 8MB total per submission. No .ZIP files.

• Content: Responses must include company information (name, address, CAGE, UEI, NAICS, socio-economic status), ability to negotiate license terms, detailed explanation of how the solution meets Table 1 requirements, facility clearance status, SME availability, upfront and annual sustainment costs, training availability and costs, product demo capability, network segmentation support, product roadmap, and feedback on requirements.

Not specified in this RFI. However, question 1 requests information on socio-economic status and government-wide contract vehicles.

• Responses will not be returned and will not be paid for.
• All costs are at the interested party's expense.
• Proprietary information should be clearly marked.
• The Government is not liable for damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified.
• Telephonic inquiries or replies will not be entertained.