The Department of Employment and Social Development (ESDC) relies extensively on a suite of products provided by Atlassian to perform its information technology (IT) service management and its IT development activities. Licences for these products will expire soon and the department is seeking the perspective of industry on how these products, or similar products might be sourced and delivered in the future. Annex A provides a list of the products currently in use. Over the next 12 months the department will, starting with this Request for Information (RFI), conduct a procurement to replace and update related software and potentially seek services to support the new suite of products.This RFI will provide industry with an opportunity to provide insight and knowledge of future trends that could influence the direction ESDC takes with its procurement.At this time, a number of different groups within ESDC use the product suite, each with its own needs that will need to be addressed by the potential supplier. Ideally, the supplier will offer a suite of products in the form of a software service of some type. That service would be delivered with due consideration to the complexity of the operating environment and respecting the Government of Canada’s “cloud first” technology policy.This RFI also seeks the view of industry on a series of questions related to a potential procurement. Suppliers can assume that they would have to provide services at the Government of Canada’s Protected B information protection level and would have to abide by the Government of Canada’s policy regarding data residency and privacy. A number of other Government of Canada IT security policies will also apply, and suppliers may wish to become familiar with those prior to providing a response.In a best-case scenario, a supplier would provide all the software and services in such a way that would allow the department to minimize its administrative and operational overhead and concentrate on using the tools for the work it performs with them.Additionally,This RFI is neither a call for tender nor a Bid Solicitation. No agreement or contract will be entered into based on this RFI. The issuance of this RFI is not to be considered in any way a commitment by the Government of Canada, nor as authority to potential respondents to undertake any work that could be charged to Canada. This RFI is not to be considered as a commitment to issue a subsequent solicitation or award contract(s) for the work described herein. Although the information collected may be provided as commercial-in-confidence (and, if identified as such, will be treated accordingly by Canada), Canada may use the information to assist in drafting performance specifications (which are subject to change) and for budgetary purposes.Respondents are encouraged to identify, in the information they share with Canada, any information that they feel is proprietary, third party or personal information. Please note that Canada may be obligated by law (e.g. in response to a request under the Access of Information and Privacy Act) to disclose proprietary or commercially-sensitive information concerning a respondent (for more information: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/).Participation in this RFI is encouraged, but is not mandatory. There will be no short-listing of potential suppliers for the purposes of undertaking any future work as a result of this RFI. Similarly, participation in this RFI is not a condition or prerequisite for the participation in any potential subsequent solicitation.
