SOLICITATION NOTICE
D -- ALERT System
- Notice Date
- 2/13/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Contract Management Branch, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 228, Alexandria, VA, 22302
- ZIP Code
- 22302
- Solicitation Number
- FNS-04-TMN-01
- Response Due
- 4/16/2004
- Archive Date
- 5/1/2004
- Point of Contact
- Tina Nevitt, Lead Contract Specialist, Phone 703-305-2265, Fax 703-305-2071, - Tina Nevitt, Lead Contract Specialist, Phone 703-305-2265, Fax 703-305-2071,
- E-Mail Address
-
tina.nevitt@fns.usda.gov, tina.nevitt@fns.usda.gov
- Description
- Current Architecture: The current ALERT application is a n-tiered server architecture that operates on Proliant 8500 servers using the Windows 2000 operating system and Sybase database system software. The application software is programmed using Delphi. There are four main software components ? The ALERT analysis software includes specific scans that target certain suspect patterns of fraudulent activity. ALERT utilizes data from two sources; transaction data that is received from the states operation EBT systems, and retailer data that is extracted from present mainframe systems that house the FNS national retailer database for authorizing and monitoring participating Food Stamp retailers. ? A web site provides user information on existing releases, tutorials and a data mart known as AMART. ? ESSRA is a component which provides retailer management data that has been extracted weekly from the FNS national retailer tracking database. ESSRA is used in the field and regional offices to manage daily retailer authorization activities and allows users to download data into standard Excel spreadsheets or Access tables for further manipulation ? Watchlist is a management reporting tool designed to systemically track identified suspect retailers and the status of activities by FNS staff regarding each identified retailer. FNS? overall system environment is transitioning from mainframe to server and web-based technologies. Current software standards require Section 508 compliance for all agency systems. FNS is planning to migrate the present ALERT database system to SQL Server 2000 prior to the commencement of the new base contract. Users are provided Windows 2000 and Office Suite products on their workstations or laptops installed with the ALERT application software. Depending on access to the Department Wide Area Network, users connect via the WAN or utilize dial-in capabilities. A limited number of users are able to access the ALERT system using Virtual Private Networks (VPN) for secured connections via the Internet, which we expect to grow in the next few years as the preferred method for remote access. Background: ALERT is a decision support management system built around the retailer management and compliance requirements of the Food Stamp Program. The primary purpose is to load and analyze food stamp transactional data, e.g., food stamp purchases in any of 150,000 authorized food stamp retailer locations. Data is submitted to FNS by State EBT processors each month. Only a few States remain to be implemented, the largest being California. Current data on the status of EBT State activities is available on the FNS website athttp://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/ebt/. At present, there are nearly 70 million transactions processed monthly and a rolling 6 months of data is maintained on-line. When all states have implemented EBT, monthly transaction data is estimated to be about 85 million transactions. Key elements of each electronic transaction are extracted by the EBT processors and provided to the ALERT system. This data includes information such as dollar amount, location, terminal ID, date and time of the transaction, type of entry (card swiped through a reader or manually key?entered), and whether a paper voucher was issued. This acquisition is for the maintenance and upkeep of the system, as well as possible enhancements that may arise. The contract is full and open to all sources, will have a base period of one year with four (4) one (1) year option periods, and will be a combination of fixed price and IDIQ. It is anticipated that the RFP will be issued on or about March 1, 2004. Please, NO TELEPHONE INQUIRIES.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Metropolitan Washington DC Area
- Record
- SN00522325-W 20040215/040213212022 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |