SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Department of Commerce(DOC),National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Center for Environmental Predictions (NCEP), Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System II (WCOSS II) - Appendix for Facilities - Performance Work Statement Appendices - Performance Work Statement (PWS)
- Notice Date
- 2/12/2018
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541512
— Computer Systems Design Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Strategic Sourcing Acquisition Division, SSMC2 11th Floor, 1325 East West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20910
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-NCEP-WCOSS-2018(V2)
- Archive Date
- 3/17/2018
- Point of Contact
- Diana Fischer, Phone: 301-628-1423, Franklin Miles, Phone: 301-628-1357
- E-Mail Address
-
Diana.Fischer@noaa.gov, Franklin.Miles@noaa.gov
(Diana.Fischer@noaa.gov, Franklin.Miles@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Draft Performance Work Statement for Vendor Review and Comments PWS Appendices Power Consumption data related to facilites/computer usuage THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY - Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government and respondents will not be entitled to payment of direct or indirect cost incurred in responding to this RFI. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Strategic Sourcing Acquisition Division (SSAD), located in Silver Spring, MD, is conducting market research for the purpose of assessing the current and near future High Performance Computing (HPC) marketplace, potential suppliers of HPC technology services, and changes in market conditions which have the potential to advance the NOAA Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing Systems (WCOSS). Responses to this RFI will assist the Government in developing and refining its requirements for the follow-on contract based on market trends and new technology. Background NOAA National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP is recognized as a world leader in understanding and predicting the Earth's environment through advanced modeling capabilities, climate research and real time weather products. The growing concern of global climate change, weather impacts upon homeland security and aviation, hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather have spurred growing demand for weather, climate, ocean, and space weather information with increased accuracy, shorter lead times and greater model resolution. Hence, NCEP has a continuing and increasing need for the computational power essential to meet its mission strategic goals related to weather, climate, air quality, coastal and ocean resource management. The WCOSS provides computing capabilities that are essential in the support of increasingly more complex environmental models. The models must complete on time, all the time with a growing volume of input data (including observational and satellite based data) which is synchronized to an external (outside of WCOSS) worldwide data collection cycle. The WCOSS must be highly dependable and reliable as operational models are required to be run many times a day within a prescribed time window and model guidance products must be disseminated on a fixed time schedule. NOAA's current WCOSS environment requires the contractor to design, deliver and support a complete and fully integrated system consisting of identical (i.e. hardware, operating systems, etc.) primary and backup HPCs solution capable of immediate failover transfer to operational readiness within minutes. One of the HPCS' is used in the operational environment, and the second HPCS is used for Transition to Operations (T2O) workloads and serve as a backup to the operational system. The two systems must be symmetrical. The primary and backup HPCs are currently housed in separate facilities located more than 120 miles apart to ensure continuity of operations. The HPCS requirements include scheduled scalable technology enhancements, unanticipated additional internal (NOAA) HPC requirements. Maintaining the current computational power and increasing this power through scalable measures overtime is essential for NOAA to meet its strategic goals. Purpose and Objectives NOAA is seeking innovative concepts and approaches to obtain the needed computing systems, facilities and services for consideration in the development of the follow-on WCOSS requirement. The Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) and supporting documents attached with this RFI are intended to open a formal communication channel between industry and the Government as well as to provide the High Performance Computing Industry with insight to the NOAA/NCEP unique system requirements. The PWS represents a draft IDIQ framework that describes the scope of the requirements for this contract. Task Orders will be issued over the life of the IDIQ contract that will provide more specificity. The Government is open to Industry's input in defining the current requirements. The WCOSS requirements are for a "total solution" using a managed service approach wherein the Contractor owns and manages all aspects of the HPC supplies and services required in the performance of the contract. This includes the establishment of a based-lined legacy HPC system with scheduled, scalable technology enhancements. The managed service also includes, but is not limited to, facilities, systems (i.e. hardware, operating systems, etc.) and support personnel to permit forecast productions (operational) as well as transition to operations (research and development modeling of code) by NCEP personnel in support of their mission. Procurement Overview The anticipated follow-on contract resulting from the solicitation will be a single-award, multi-year, Indefinite-Delivery-Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract, with the ability to issue Firm-Fixed Price (FFP), Fixed Price Award Fee (FPAF), Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF), Time and Material (T&M), Cost Reimbursable (CR) and Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) task orders thereunder. The contract is anticipated to have a ten year period of performance, consisting of a base ordering period of eight years and a two year transition period. The Request For Proposal (RFP) for WCOSS is anticipated to be issued in January 2019, with contract award by fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2020 and initial delivery of the new system not later than the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2022. Information Released with RFI The attachments to the RFI include the Appendices and Benchmark Codes descriptions to be used as a source of information. The Benchmarks are in the process of being updated and not ready for release at this time. All information will be updated with the release of the pre-solicitation notice. Information Requested The Government welcomes industry comments, questions and suggestions that will aid it in understanding industry capabilities, developing its acquisition strategy and finalizing the PWS. In an effort to benefit fully from industry responses to this RFI, vendors are encouraged to schedule one-on-one information exchanges with the Government. One of the principal outcomes of vendor/government dialog will be to ensure that alternate approaches that may reduce cost and risk are considered in the follow-on procurement. The Government may therefore utilize the information provided to refine its acquisition strategy to maximize competition among viable acquisition alternatives. It is not the Government's intent to disclose vendor proprietary information and trade secrets to the public. The information submitted by vendors during the market research period may be used by the Government in preparing its RFP and finalizing the PWS, provided this can be done without disclosing proprietary vendor information that is protected from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and other laws and regulations. Interested vendors should respond in writing to the following topics: 1)Historically, NOAA has received support for WCOSS through contracts providing HPC as a service. Specifically, these contracts required Contractors to provide all necessary labor, equipment, and facilities (i.e. data center support) as a total HPC solution in the form of a managed service. The Contractor would be reimbursed based on NOAA's usage/access of the total system and the HPC infrastructure provided. Concerning specifications, the total solution HPC capability would need to meet minimum performance benchmarks, and historically has required a minimum system and system availability level of 99.99%. Question: Please provide feedback on whether or not such a technical approach is still viable in the HPC marketplace today. If this approach is no longer viable, please explain why this is the case, as well as provide recommendations for what items in this explanation would need to change to make the requirement more viable. 2)Historically, the total solution HPC capability would need to meet minimum performance benchmarks, with a required minimum system and data availability level of 99.99%. On a monthly basis, NOAA has assessed contractual penalties when a contractor is unable to meet this availability level. The disincentive is applied to the availability level of both Operational Use Time (OUT) and Development Use Time (DUT). Question: Do the disincentives for Operational Use Time (OUT) and Development Use Time (DUT) pose a risk such that they would impact your company's decision on whether or not to take part in this acquisition? Does the methodology used for calculating OUT and DUT a valid measurement? If not what would alternative do you suggest? 3) NOAA has historically obtained HPC as a service by issuing five (5) year, multi-year contracts in accordance with FAR 17.1. The scope of these contracts would cover all necessary labor, equipment, and facilities (i.e. data center support) to provide a total solution HPC capability as a service. As indicated in FAR 17.1, this may require contractors to incur upfront investment costs which are then amortized over the life of the contract, with contractor reimbursement occurring incrementally throughout the performance period. Per FAR 17.106-1(c), a funded cancellation ceiling is typically required to cover the contractor's unamortized investment costs that would need to be compensated for in the event the contract is cancelled. Question: What is industry's feedback on this contracting approach? Are there issues or concerns with using this approach in the future that NOAA should consider in developing the WCOSS contract structure? Also, if Program funding is limited for WCOSS, would industry be amenable to an unfunded cancellation ceiling, wherein compensation would be guaranteed in the event of Program or contract cancellation; however, the cancellation ceiling would not be funded until the need arises? 3)Does the Draft PWS provide sufficient detail to describe the technical requirements that encompass the work to be performed under this effort? If "No", please provide your technical comments/recommendation on elements of the Draft PWS that may contribute to a more accurate proposal submission and efficient, cost effective effort. 4)Are the requirements as stated neutral to both Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Systems Integrator? If not please explain. 5)Do any of the requirements appear to be ambiguous or too vague? If so, please list them with your concerns. 6)Are the charts and graphs found in the appendices useful? 7)Describe your approach to providing required services. Briefly describe your organization's involvement in providing HPC systems. Has this involvement included weather/climate applications? Does your organization have experience in supporting 24X7 operations? Does your organization have experience in delivering, operating, and maintaining high availability systems? Please provide previous or existing contract numbers and descriptions along with contact information. 8)What additional information or data concerning the current WCOSS operations should be included in the Statement of Work? 9)Does the planned upgrade schedule for the initial task pose any significant challenges or concerns? If so please explain. 10) Describe your approach to providing required services. Briefly describe your organization's involvement in providing HPC systems. Has this involvement included weather/climate applications? Does your organization have experience in supporting 24X7 operations? Does your organization have experience in delivering, operating, and maintaining high availability systems? Please provide previous or existing contract numbers and descriptions along with contact information. 11) Are there alternative methods for providing the required an HPC "total solution" as a service? 12) Describe any anticipated HPC technology developments (i.e. compute, storage, network) that NOAA should be aware of to ensure that the PWS elicits the best responses from the vendor community. 13)Describe the largest file size Vendor's system can handle now, whether this is a hardware or software limitation and projections for the largest file size during the base and option periods of performance. Describe any alternatives solutions to maximize file size and trade-offs compared with other solutions. Describe the largest number of nodes Vendor's file system can handle now and projections for the base and option periods of performance. Describe any alternatives solutions to maximize node number and trade-offs compared with other solutions. Multiple or alternative approaches are welcome. Although this RFI requests specific information, it is not intended to discourage innovative thinking on the part of industry to propose alternative solutions or approaches that the Government may not have considered. Vendors responding should provide a point-of-contact, including: representative's name, email address, mailing address, and telephone number. Respondents shall include the following information in their submissions: Name of Company Cage Code and DUNS Number Address Point of Contact/Company Representative Phone Number/Email Address Response Format Please submit one (1) electronic Adobe Acrobat Portable Document File (PDF) format, formatted for 8.5" by 11" sheets, single-spaced. All documents submitted (including charts and graphs) should be limited to no more than thirty-five (35) pages. Delivery Requirements The Government requests all electronic responses be by 12:00 PM local time, on ___________________________ to the Contracting Officer, with a copy to the secondary point of contact to the email addressed listed below. Primary Point of Contact: Diana Fischer Contracting Officer diana.fischer@noaa.gov Phone: 301-628-1423 Fax: 301-713-0822 Secondary Point of Contact: Franklin Miles franklin.miles@noaa.gov Phone: 301-628-1357 Fax: 301-713-0822 Contracting Office Address: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration SSMC2 11th Floor 1325 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD- 20910-3281 United States The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) assigned to this requirement is 541512 Computer System Design Services, with a size standard of $27.5 million. Note that vendors need not respond to this RFI as a prerequisite for participating in the acquisition.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/NESMD/RFI-NCEP-WCOSS-2018(V2)/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: National Weather Service (NWS), National Center for Environmental Predictions (NCEP), NCEP Central Operations (NCO), 5830 University Research Court, College Park, Maryland, 20740, United States
- Zip Code: 20740
- Zip Code: 20740
- Record
- SN04819777-W 20180214/180212231321-95d36f68bb5cb10c26224f7373e8132a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |