SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- FSA Database Administration, Tool Administration and Operations Support Services (DATA-OPS)
- Notice Date
- 8/2/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541511
— Custom Computer Programming Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Acquisition Management Division, Contracts Operations Branch, 1280 Maryland Avenue, SW, Portals Bldg., Room 508A, Washington, District of Columbia, 20250-0567
- ZIP Code
- 20250-0567
- Solicitation Number
- AG-3151-SS-13-DATA-OPS
- Archive Date
- 8/27/2013
- Point of Contact
- Jeffrey McRae, Phone: 2026904030, Douglas Joyner, Phone: 2027729074
- E-Mail Address
-
Jeffrey.Mcrae@wdc.usda.gov, Douglas.Joyner@wdc.usda.gov
(Jeffrey.Mcrae@wdc.usda.gov, Douglas.Joyner@wdc.usda.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Woman Owned Small Business
- Description
- Source Sought Notice AG-3151-SS-13-DATA-OPS FSA Database Administration, Tool Administration and Operations Support Services (DATA-OPS) This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is for woman owned small businesses only. The purpose of this sources sought notice is to determine the interest and feasibility of woman owned small business set-aside. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor will the U.S. Government pay for information solicited. The information from this notice will help the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) plan their acquisition strategy or plan. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA), is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified woman-owned small businesses (WOSB) capable of providing support in the following major work streams at a high level: • Business Process Documentation and Improvement • Operations Management and Reporting • Database Administration • Data Tools Administration The FSA/OCIO/Database Management Office (DBMO) is responsible for structuring, maintaining, securing, and delivering the data that support the FSA programs. DBMO has a requirement to provide Database Administration (DBA), Data Tool Administration (DTA), and DBMO Operations Management (OPS) for new and existing information needs within the FSA. Database Administration ensures the availability, reliability, integrity, security, and performance of the FSA's data and data relationships, including the monitoring, trouble-shooting and remediation required when the data availability, reliability, integrity, security and performance are at risk. Data Tool Administration provides services to manage and configure Data Integration and Data Management Automation tools to support FSA data delivery systems. Data Tool Administration includes administering the ETL, Business Intelligence and Master Data Management tools used within FSA, and also includes the monitoring, trouble-shooting, and remediation required when systems using these tools are at risk. DBMO Operations Management ensures the smooth operations of these database and data tool functions within DBMO, provides management and coordination for planned deployments and unplanned incidents, maintains and analyzes production metrics, and reports on FSA data systems and performance. These technical services support the development of FSA systems that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information used to enable more effective strategic, tactical, and operational insights and decision-making. Scope of Environment The FSA computing environment is varied and complex. At a high level, the following information gives an overview of the environment. USDA Service Centers - Farmers and ranchers across the country have brick and mortar Service Center offices that serve each county. They are designed to be a single location where customers can access the services provided by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies. Each State has an office, and in addition, there are about 2400 USDA Service Centers. Webfarm - The ITSD contracts with the International Technology Services (ITS) and National Information Technology Services (NITC) divisions of the USDA Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) webfarms of servers to host the web applications and reporting data provided for USDA/FSA customers. Mainframe - The ITSD contracts with the OCIO-ITS/NIITC for IBM mainframe processing and storage services. GIS Citrix Centralized - A number of applications utilize geospatial data. This GIS data is managed through a centralized webfarm of data servers served by Citrix. Hardware, operating system and network technical support is provided by OCIO-ITS/NITC. MIDAS SAP - MIDAS is the Farm Service Agency's initiative to "Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems". The heart of the MIDAS initiative is to improve the delivery of FSA farm program benefits and services through the re-engineering of farm programs business processes and the adoption of enhanced and modernized information technology. The major impact to the DBMO is the MIDAS initiative to integrate SAP processing with FSA data and business processes to fit the business needs. Database Platforms - Current database platforms hosting FSA data are: • Oracle • Microsoft SQL Server • IBM DB2 for z/OS • IBM Informix • CA IDMS • Arc/SDE GIS (SQL Server) The approximate number of physical databases per Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) appears below. The total number of databases is expected to grow over time. Oracle 2 Microsoft SQL Server 300 IBM DB2 23 IBM Informix 11 IDMS 10 Arc/SDE GIS (SQL Server) 97 The number of work requests over the past year has ranged from about 350 to 700 per month, with the number of work requests in a month averaging around 535. About half of the requests are for work supporting SQL Server databases, however the percentage and number of work requests in support of Oracle databases and Oracle Data Integrator is expected to grow over time as both the MIDAS programs and the FSA Enterprise Data Warehouse are built out. Requests for security actions such as passwords and permission roles averaged an additional 1100 per month, with SQL Server, Oracle and Informix environments receiving the majority of requests. Programs Supported Below is a representative list of FSA common application systems and capabilities for which databases will be supported by this contract, but the programs supported are not limited to this list. Common Capabilities  FSA Business Partner Information o Service Center Information Management System (SCIMS) o Representative Link Manager System (RLMS) o Subsidiary / Eligibility o Fiduciary o Farm Operating Plan (Business File)  Common Payments o Common Payment Framework o Common Payment Reports o Common Payment System  Farm Records Management  Acreage Reporting / Inventory Reporting  National Crop Table  Systematic Tracking for Optimal Risk Management (STORM) Farm Program Capabilities  Direct and Counter Cyclical Program (DCP) including Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE)  The Natural Disaster Relief Programs (NDRP) o Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) o Livestock Forage Program (LFP) o Tree Assistance Program (TAP) o Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE) o Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP)  Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Programs (NAP)  Price Support Programs o Farm Stored Facility Loans (FSFL) o Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) o Electronic Loan Deficiency Payments (ELDP)  Conservation Program o Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) o State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) o Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program (EFCRP) o Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) Farm Loan Program Capabilities  Direct o Direct Farm Ownership Loans o Direct Down Payment Loans o Direct Operating Loans o Direct Emergency Loans  Guaranteed o Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loans o Guaranteed Operating Loans o Guaranteed Conservation o Land Contract Guarantee Loans Commodity Capabilities  Domestic o National School Lunch Program (NSLP) o Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACF) o Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) o Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP) o The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) o Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) o Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) o Disaster Feeding Assistance (DF)  International o Title II of the Food for Peace Act (FFP) o McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program o Food for Progress Program (FFPr) o Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT) o Section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 Budget and Finance Capabilities  Receivable Management  Land and Storage Facility Management  Financial Management  IRS Reporting  Marketing Assistance Loans Charges/Offsets  Payment Management  IRS Foreign Program Direct Loan Management Geospatial Capabilities  National Agriculture Imagery Program  Common Land Unit and Acreage Reporting integration All responding small business firms are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business to the anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code. For this acquisition, the NAICS code is 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services and the Small Business Standard is $25 million. Teaming arrangements and joint ventures will be considered for any subsequent procurement based on the Government's market research, provided the prime contract is awarded to an applicable small business and that small businesses provide fifty percent or more of the support. The United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency is conducting market research to identify sources that have the combination of experience in: • Database Administration in Transactional and Reporting Environments • Application Database Performance Monitoring and Tuning • Data Integration and ETL/ELT Tool Administration • Master Data Management Tool Administration • Business Intelligence and Reporting Tool Administration • Data Model Repository Administration • Metadata Repository Administration • Database Design Best Practices • Data Management Organization Incident, Problem and Operations Management • Operations Dashboard Creation and Management • Process Documentation and Continual Improvement • COOP and Disaster Recovery Strategies • Data Access and Security Strategies • Configuration and Change Management • Program and Project Management The current contract awarded to HP Enterprise Services is a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) type contract that supports up to 35 FTEs. Below are the characteristics of the DATA-OPS requirements: • Demonstrable knowledge in diverse areas of database performance, project management, operations and deployment management, data integration technologies, data warehouse data load strategies, master data management and tools, repositories for data models and for metadata. • Previous experience in software application development database support, data warehouse and data mart design, SQL query script development and tuning, support to stress lab testing, 24x7 contingency support for production database and data tool administration, disaster recovery, capacity planning. • Working knowledge of:  Working knowledge of supporting large mission critical, multi-platform systems and providing responsive, time-critical customer support and production problem resolution.  Working knowledge of relational database management products including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2 for z/OS, IBM Informix, CA IDMS.  Working knowledge of the administration of data integration tools including Microsoft SSIS, IBM InfoSphere DataStage, Oracle Data Integrator  Working knowledge of the administration of master data management tools including IBM InfoSphere MDM  Working knowledge of the administration of Business Intelligence and reporting tools including Oracle EPM and OBIEE, and Microsoft SSRS  Working knowledge of providing high availability data systems and of performance monitoring methodologies for assessing the performance metrics of the data delivery system including servers, databases, data integration and reporting tools, i/o, SAN disk and solid state storage devices, and memory  Working knowledge of performance monitoring tools including Oracle Grid Control, Precise APM, and Microsoft SQL Server  Working knowledge of designing, developing and deploying robust enterprise applications and shared services in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment.  Working knowledge of agile and test driven methods such as Scrum.  Working knowledge of automated job scheduling tools including CRON, CA Workload Automation ESP, and BMC Control-M  Working knowledge of Unix  Working knowledge of COBOL and JCL.  Working knowledge of Software Development Lifecycles (SDLC).  Working knowledge of design and coding walkthroughs.  Working knowledge of data modeling techniques.  Working knowledge of Transaction Management Principles to ensure data integrity.  Working knowledge of relationship between Database design and application performance.  Use of standard PC workstation tools, including office automation tools, code versioning tools and tools for remote network access.  Working knowledge of SAP Data Viewer, SAP transport management, working knowledge of SAP tables, SAP job scheduling tools, security authorization concepts, SAP Solution Manager.  Working knowledge of SAP Test Automation Tools (CATT, BDC, LSMW).  Working knowledge of SAP application security, transport administration, SAP support packs, application performance monitoring, response times, infrastructure and hosting knowledge, short dumps, buffers, lock entries, OSS system, and Early-Watch services. • Ability to facilitate meetings in a "lead" capacity for groups of various sizes and technical expertise. • Previous experience with Federal Government Information Technology support. • Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in English, in both verbal and written communication • Organized and deadline driven The tasks require a set of skill categories based on the following approximate breakdown: Professional/Executive Admin - 10% Information Technology - 85% Research & Development - 5% Please submit the following information: 1. Name and address of company and or companies (if there is a teaming arrangement or joint venture) 2. Technical expertise relevant to the requirement 3. Technical approach relevant of the requirement 4. Management approach relevant to the requirement 5. Corporate experience relevant to the requirement 6. Relevant past performance, including: • Contract name • Contracting Agency or Department • Yearly contract value (in $) • Period of performance • Description of work and how it relates to the requirements Submission requirements: 1. Page limit - eight (8) 8 ½ x 11 pages 2. 1 inch margins (top, bottom and sides) 3. Times New Roman font - 12 point 4. Page limitation does not include (1 cover page or 1 letter of introduction page) 5. Do not include promotional materials Interested firms responding to this market survey must provide a capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the Governments requirements for the above in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b). The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not exceed eight (8) pages TOTAL, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. The Government technical team will then assess the experience & capabilities based on: 1) technical expertise relevant to the requirement; 2) technical approach relevant to the requirement, 3) management approach relevant to the requirement, 4) corporate experience relevant to the requirement, and 5) relevant past performance. Please specify one primary and one alternate Point of Contact (POC) within your firm, including telephone numbers and email addresses Your capability statement needs to include a list of three customers (Government/non-Government) within the past 5-years highlighting similar work in nature, scope, complexity, and difficulty and a brief description of the scope of work. Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and should be emailed to: Jeffrey.Mcrae@wdc.usda.gov and Douglas.Joyner@wdc.usda.gov. The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Notice - AG-3151-SS-13-DATA-OPS Requirement. A determination by the Government to proceed with the acquisition as a woman owned small business set-aside is within the discretion of the Government. If capability statements are not received from at least two responsible woman owned small businesses or if the Government determines that no woman owned small business concerns are capable of performing this requirement based upon an assessment of the capability statements submitted, the Government may pursue other routes. Please submit all information to Jeffrey McRae and Douglas Joyner at aforementioned email addresses by August 12, 2013 by 10:00 AM Easter Standard Time. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA/FSA/MSD/AG-3151-SS-13-DATA-OPS/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City, Missouri, 64133, United States
- Zip Code: 64133
- Zip Code: 64133
- Record
- SN03136611-W 20130804/130802235001-c4e84f487467ade1f886e180ad873282 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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