NATO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY: COMMERCIAL CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER MARKETPLACE – PROTECTED BUSINESS NETWORK

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Commercial Cloud Service Provider (CCSP) Marketplace, with the immediate requirement to support the Protected Business Network (PBN).

Potential U.S. prime contractors must 1) maintain a professionally active facility (office, factory, laboratory, etc.) within the United States, 2) be pre-approved for participation in NATO Competitive Procurement (NCP), 3) be issued a Declaration of Eligibility (DOE) by the Department of Commerce (DOC), and 4) register with the NCI Agency’s eProcurement tool, Neo: https://www.ncia.nato.int/business/neo-eprocurement.html 

The reference for the RFP is RFP-CO-424312-CCSP and all correspondence concerning the RFP should include this reference.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENT

NCIA intends to establish a CCSP Marketplace to provide access to commercially available Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and related cloud services required to support current and future NATO enterprise workloads. The immediate requirement is to provide commercially available CCSP services in support of PBN. Detailed technical, operational, security, contractual, and evaluation requirements will be provided within the formal solicitation documentation.

FOLLOW-ON INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT

Included in the attachment are 1) a draft notional cloud consumption scenario, which is intended to support market engagement and validate whether the proposed assumptions, service categories, volume metrics, and consumption profile are reasonable for purposes of a future solicitation; and 2) a draft contract Terms and Conditions, which is provided to obtain early industry feedback on the proposed contractual framework, identify any provisions that may materially affect competition, pricing, risk allocation or service delivery, and allow the NCIA to consider appropriate refinements before issuing the formal solicitation.

Both documents are preliminary, non-binding and subject to revision.

You are invited to submit to NCIA a Capability Statement and Feedback Response, not exceeding five pages, using the following address: RFP-CO-424312-CCSP@ncia.nato.int 

The Capability Statements and Feedback Responses should address the following:

i.  Corporate profile and relevant enterprise cloud experience;
ii. Experience delivering commercial cloud services to government, defense, or similarly regulated organizations;
iii. Relevant certifications, accreditations, and global support capability;
iv. Feedback on the draft notional scenario, including whether the service categories, volume metrics, assumptions, and proposed consumption profile are clear and suitable for pricing and evaluation purposes;
v. Feedback on the draft Terms and Conditions, including any provisions that may materially affect competition, pricing, risk allocation, data sovereignty, security compliance or service  delivery;
vi. Any commercial, technical, or contractual considerations NCIA should address before release of the RFP.

Capability Statements and Feedback Responses are requested solely to support market research and procurement planning. They will not be evaluated for contract award purposes.

Following review of Capability Statements and Feedback Responses, NCIA may invite suppliers to participate in one-on-one sessions so as to clarify any of the information provided by the supplier.

Participation in one-on-one discussions is optional and will not constitute qualification for, or provide any competitive advantage in, the subsequent procurement. NCIA may limit participation in such meetings based on the relevance of supplier capabilities, experience, and feedback received.

BECOMING ELIGIBLE TO BID

NCP requires that the U.S. Government issue a DOE for potential U.S. prime contractors interested in this project. Before the U.S. Government can do so, however, the U.S. Government must approve the U.S. firm for participation in NCP.  U.S. firms are approved for NCP on a facility-by-facility basis. 

The U.S. NCP application is a one-time application.  The application requires supporting documentation in the form of 1) a company resume or capability statement indicating contracts completed as a prime contractor and 2) an annual report or set of financial documents indicating compilation, review, or audit by an independent CPA.

U.S. firms can download a copy of the U.S. NCP application from the following website:

https://www.bis.gov/about-bis/bis-leadership-and-offices/SIES/business-opportunities-nato 

DOC is the U.S. Government agency that approves NCP applications. Please submit to the email address provided your application and supporting documentation (as attachments). If your firm is interested in a specific NCP project at this time, please also include the following in the TEXT of your email:

- the title and/or solicitation number of the project
- the name/phone/email of the company employee who should receive the bid documents

After approval of your one-time NCP application, DOC will then know to follow up by issuing a DOE for the project.  DOC will transmit the DOE to the NATO contracting agency.  

IMPORTANT DATES:

Request a DOE (and, for firms new to NCP, submit the one-time NCP application): 26 August 2026

NCIA distributes the RFP (planned): 30 September 2026

Bid closing (anticipated): 05 November 2026

Contract Award (estimated): 19 January 2027