Request for Proposal: ALCF HPSS Disk Cache

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) No. 6-B143-P-00143-00 Enclosure No. 1 Financial Management and Procurement Services Procurement Department Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue, Bldg. 201 Lemont, IL 60439 This document consists of three (3) parts: PART I: Cover Letter PART II: Instructions for Preparation of Proposals PART III: Notices to Offerors Enclosure 1 Part I: COVER LETTER April 29, 2026 Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6-B143-P-00143-00 based on Argonne Statement of Work for “ALCF Archive Storage Disk Cache” dated April 29, 2026. To All Prospective Offerors, UChicago Argonne, LLC, operator of Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne or Laboratory) under a prime contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has the responsibility of obtaining the item(s)/service(s) which are the subject of this Request for Proposal (RFP). You are invited to furnish a firm fixed price proposal to meet this requirement. Your attention is directed to the enclosed documents which constitute the requirements of this RFP and should be fully complied with as indicated. Enclosures Enclosure No. 1: RFP Cover Letter, Instructions for Preparation of Proposals, and Notices to Offerors. This enclosure provides instructions for preparation of your proposal. Enclosure No. 2: Articles and General Provisions applicable to any resultant agreement/contract, including: 2. Draft Purchase Order. 2A. Appendix "A", Argonne Terms and Conditions (For Commercial Goods and Services), ANL-71-COM, dated October 22, 2025. 2B. Appendix "B", Argonne Statement of Work entitled, “ALCF Archive Storage Disk Cache”, dated April 29, 2026. 2C. Appendix “E”, Low Risk On-Site Supplemental Conditions, (ANL-366L), dated October 1, 2024. 2D. Appendix “E.1” B240 – TCS Supplement to ANL366, ANL-366TCSB, dated November 3, 2025 This enclosure is provided for your information and review and represents the anticipated contractual vehicle, including standard terms, provisions, and the statement of work. Unless otherwise notified during any subsequent negotiations, these documents will be included in any resultant agreement. Any request for deviation from or waiver of the terms or conditions contained herein must be submitted in writing with your proposal and must identify the specific term or condition to be altered, changed, or deleted, together with the basis for the request. Such exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions, or one or more significant exceptions that do not provide benefit to the Laboratory, may result in rejection of your proposal as unacceptable. Enclosure No. 3: Price Proposal Form, dated April 29, 2026 (Complete and Return). This is the pricing format to be used when submitting your price proposal. Enclosure No. 4: Evaluation Criteria, dated April 29, 2026 This enclosure sets forth the proposal evaluation criteria and their relative importance, which will be used to determine whether a submitted proposal is acceptable. Enclosure No. 5: Pre-Award Information – Representations and Certifications, ANL-70B, dated January 13, 2025. (Complete, Sign, and Return). This enclosure must be completed in its entirety, signed, dated, and returned with your proposal. It is considered essential, and no award will be issued without receipt of a properly executed Representations and Certifications. Please note that your company is also encouraged to have an active registration in www.SAM.gov prior to award. Enclosure No. 6: Tax Exemption Certificate, valid through March 1, 2031 This is the Laboratory’s current tax exemption certificate, provided for your reference. Note that this is a request for proposal, not a contract/agreement. The Laboratory intends to issue an award resulting from this solicitation based on the Best Value/Trade-Off methodology. This RFP is not intended and shall not be construed to commit the Laboratory to pay any cost incurred in connection with any proposal or to procure or contract for any supplies/services. The Laboratory reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals if that is determined to be in the best interest of the Laboratory. Award may be made without discussion; therefore, your proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms. Please acknowledge receipt of this RFP by return email to atkinson@anl.gov. Sincerely, Court Atkinson Procurement Specialist E-Mail Address: atkinson@anl.gov Enclosure 1 Part II: INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS Proposal Submission Format: The proposal shall be in three (3) parts: Part I – Technical Proposal, Part II - Business Management Proposal, and Part III – Cost/Price Proposal. Each part shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of and concurrently with evaluation of the other. In no instance shall Part I, Part II, and/or Part III be bound together or presented in such manner as to make them not severable. The Technical and Business Management Proposals shall not contain any reference to cost/pricing. The Technical Proposal must disclose your project approach in as much detail as possible including, but not limited to, the requirements of the Technical Proposal instructions. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the Offeror’s lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork, expensive visual and other presentation aids are neither necessary nor wanted. Proposals should be prepared with maximum economy, consistent with this procurement, to ensure that the resourc…