Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 07, 2008 FBO #2538
SOURCES SOUGHT

70 -- SSA Seeks Vendor Sources for Strategic Enterprise Database Study

Notice Date

11/5/2008
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

541511 — Custom Computer Programming Services
 

Contracting Office

Social Security Administration, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1st Floor, Rear Entrance, 7111 Security Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland, 21244
 

ZIP Code

21244
 

Solicitation Number

SSA_DatabaseReplication_FY09
 

Response Due

11/20/2008
 

Archive Date

12/5/2008
 

Point of Contact

Cynthia M Spencer, Phone: 4109653369
 

E-Mail Address

cynthia.spencer@ssa.gov
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

BACKGROUND--Social Security touches the lives of all Americans, young and old alike. This year over 17 million people will receive a new or reissued Social Security Card, many of them infants. Approximately 163 million people are employed in jobs covered by Social Security’s provisions for Retirement, Survivors & Disability benefits. Additionally, 54 million individuals will receive monthly benefit payments from Social Security programs. In order for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to support its mandated programs, it operates a very large enterprise database environment, containing more than 70 Terabytes of data. These data are the foundation for SSA’s processing systems. These data are used to provide information for the citizens of the United States, including all those who have received a Social Security Number (SSN), are employed, or have applied for or are receiving, Social Security benefits or Supplementary Security Income payments. Effective and efficient management of these data is vital to SSA’s mission to provide accurate benefits and efficient service to the American public, today and in the future. The Social Security Act of 1935, signed into law on August 14, 1935, established the Social Security program. SSA operations began in the fall of 1936, with the issuance of a SSN to each worker covered by the provisions of that Act. Today, more than 70 years later, the data created by that process (i.e. the identity of those individuals and their respective SSNs) and the ensuing earning recordation are still a vital and necessary part of SSA’s active enterprise data holdings. Thus, unlike most modern information technology environments, SSA’s databases contain, by necessity, data spanning the entire 72-year period of the Social Security program’s existence. Data collected in 1936 are still relevant today, not just for historical purposes, but for contemporary and future processing. Since the beginning, Social Security has strived to employ the best available technology to provide the best service to the American public in the most efficient manner. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, that technology was Electronic Accounting Machines with data stored on punched cards. (Purportedly, SSA was the largest user of punch cards during that timeframe.) In the mid 1950’s, Social Security became one of the first organizations to enter the computer age, transferring data stored in punch cards to magnetic tape and developing batch computer systems to run on “mainframe” computers with 20K of memory. Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, as SSA acquired succeeding generations of technology, larger and more sophisticated automated processes were implemented, which, in turn, generated more and more data. In the early 1970’s, SSA began building online databases, providing query access through rudimentary networks to our community-based offices. In 1982, SSA launched a 5-year, $600 million Systems Modernization Plan to accelerate the adoption and integration of new technologies. This resulted in a modern systems architecture and infrastructure to support online processing and a database environment supported by IDMS DBMS and Master Data Access Method (MADAM) (an SSA developed database system). Through the remainder of the 1980’s and the 1990’s, this technical foundation enabled a major transformation of the SSA’s systems environment. In 1995, Social Security began construction of the first large-scale repository for unstructured data (image) files to support “paperless processing.” In the past 10 years, data growth has accelerated, data access has been extended to the Internet, and support for unstructured data has greatly expanded. SSA now operates one of the largest document management systems in the world; and unlike most other major enterprises, data captured or created during each of these eras are still critical to today’s business processes. Current Environment Description--SSA’s current production database environment includes support for DB2 v8 for z/OS, Oracle 10g, Microsoft SQL Server, CA/IDMS release 16.4, and SSA’s MADAM--a legacy, in-house developed database management tool implemented during the 1980’s. Initiatives are underway to ensure an orderly multiyear transition from MADAM and CA/IDMS to IBM’s DB2. SSA also manages very large document repositories supported by IBM’s Content Manager and by Global 360. The hub of SSA’s enterprise database environment is the National Computer Center (NCC) located at the Agency’s headquarters complex in Woodlawn, MD, with portions of the data housed at multiple sites around the country. These databases are hosted by a hardware environment consisting primarily of IBM mainframe computers running the IBM z/OS operating system, Sun Microsystems computers running the Solaris operating system, and Hewlett Packard computers running the UNIX operating system. SSA is also in the process of building the Durham Support Center (DSC), a second data center in Durham, North Carolina. In addition to the very large enterprise production environment, SSA’s also operates a comprehensive multi-tiered enterprise development environment consisting of five separate phases, each supported by its own environment--configured with hardware, software, data and procedures designed to facilitate the efficient and orderly transition of our enterprise application systems through all life cycle phases from development through production implementation. FUTURE REQUIREMENTS--Over the next decade, SSA’s workload is expected to increase significantly. SSA expects retirement claims to increase by more than 40 percent and disability claims by approximately 10 percent. The first wave of 80 million baby boomers has applied for Social Security benefits, and boomers are expected to seek disability benefits in greater numbers than did previous generations. SSA’s data environment must be prepared to accommodate this tremendous workload increase while maintaining the integrity, availability and accessibility of our enterprise databases. SSA believes this can be accomplished by continuing the process of identifying and adopting relevant new technologies to better serve the American public. One of the technologies that SSA is researching is database replication in our DB2 Z/OS platform environment. In order to maintain high availability in some of our critical workloads, SSA has determined the need to employ near instantaneous database replication to geographically dispersed mainframe platforms. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS--Therefore, the SSA is seeking to identify organizations having software products that can support database replication for DB2 on the Z/OS mainframe platform. In particular, we are seeking products that must meet the following MANDATORY criteria: 1) operate on the Z/OS 1.10 operating system and have a migration plan for support of future versions; 2) be able to operate in a DB2 Z/OS data sharing environment running DB2 Version 8 and have a migration plan for support of future versions; 3) have products that support near instantaneous database replication at distances greater than 300 miles; 4) be able to replicate uni-directional, bi-directional, or in peer-to-peer mode across multiple sysplexes; 5) easily installed and managed; 6) must be used in existing large-scale enterprises supporting millions of database transactions; 7) have automated restart and recovery capability (parameter driven, preferably using a real-time customization feature); 8) compatible with Computer Associates Top Secret Enterprise Security product and future versions; 9) ability to operate at an individual database level and not at the DB2 subsystem level; SSA must be able to specify the specific data base to replicate; 10) have a facility to monitor the performance and status of the data replication; 11) provide tools/strategies for resolution of data-conflicts in bi-directional or peer-to-peer replication architecture; 12) be FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) compliant; 13) have the ability to encrypt replication transmissions; 14) be a mature solution in use for at least 5 years; and, 15) be currently used by more than one customer. We are seeking the following OPTIONAL ability criteria for the product: 1) replicate VSAM data; and 2) replicate CA-IDMS release 16.4 data and have a migration plan for support of future version of CA-IDMS. VENDOR Responses--Vendors who have products that support large, geographically dispersed organizations to implement DB2 database replication with very large database environments and supporting a large number of end users are invited to submit information concerning their past experience in performing those services. Detailed responses should be provided addressing each of the above criteria. The responses should include, where possible, case studies of existing large-scale installations where the product has been employed. Vendors should also include client contact information for their cited engagements. Vendor responses should provide detailed accounts of—1) the company/organization to which the vendor provided the product and services; 2) a reference contact at the company (name, title, email, phone number); 3) what the customer provided; 4) what services the vendor provided; 5) description and make up of the team that provided the services; 6) the duration of the engagement; 7) product documentation: this should also include at a minimum, installation of the product, configuration and set-up of data replication for the source and target, management of data replication, performance benchmarks, management of conflict resolution, and product throughput; and 8) if possible, a rough order of magnitude (ROM) of the cost of the product. It is important to note that simple marketing information or incomplete responses will not be considered an acceptable or valid response, nor will mere references or links to vendor web sites. Written responses to this synopsis shall contain sufficient documentation to establish a bona fide capability to fulfill this requirement. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Respondents should indicate whether their services/products are available on GSA Federal Supply Schedules or any other Government-wide Agency Contract (GWAC). This document does not constitute a solicitation for offers. Request for copies of a solicitation will not be honored or acknowledged. No contract award will be made on the basis of responses received; however, this information will be assessed before a final determination is made. Respondents will not be notified of the results of any Government evaluation of submitted information. Any responses to this notice should be submitted electronically by 3:00 p.m. ET on November 20, 2008 to Cynthia.Spencer@ssa.gov. Faxed information will not be permitted. The size limitation for email attachments is 10 megabytes and MS Word 2003 is the Agency’s standard word processing software. Respondents should refer to SSA_DatabaseReplication_FY09.
 

Web Link

FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=f3e6bc87444ee80f1eee543f76c14fcb&tab=core&_cview=1)
 

Place of Performance

Address: National Computer Center, 6201 Security Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland, 21235, United States

Zip Code: 21235
 

Record

SN01701221-W 20081107/081105215409-f3e6bc87444ee80f1eee543f76c14fcb (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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