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70 -- DRAFT NIH NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL SOL DRAFT NETWORK INF. POC Julius Y. Tidwell, Contracting Officer; (301) 402-3074; FAX (301) 402- 2431; E-mail address Julius_ Tidwell@nih.gov. The primary objective of the Computer Equipment, Resources, and Technology Acquisition (CERTAN) for the National Institutes of Health is to provide information technology resources that meet scientific, managerial, and administrative user requirements for the National Institutes of Health Institutes, Centers, and Divisions. CERTAN is designed to provide the biomedical, statistical, and administrative computer systems for which the Division of Computer Research and Technology (DCRT) provides scientific and technical support. The CERTAN Network Infrastructure acquisition will provide the National Institutes of Health with hardware components, software, technical support, maintenance, and other services required to support the NIHnet. The other services may include: 1. Infrastructure Planning, Design, Construction, and Installation, 2. Network Operation and Maintenance, including Network Management, Network Management Systems, and Performance Studies. The Networks at NIH are and will remain open and capable of connecting systems in a multi-vendor environment. A Draft RFP will be available on or about April 21, 1997. The Draft RFP is only available electronically on DCRT's WEB site. The web site address is: http://www.nih.gov/dcrt/certan/rfprequest.html. The Government will not provide hard copies of the Draft RFP. This Draft RFP is provided for informational purposes only. The Government is soliciting comments on all sections of the draft document. When providing comments, your response shall be concise and to the point, eliminating any unnecessary verbiage. Note, the Government will not formally respond to any comments, but will consider incorporating comments into revisions of the specification or other sections of the formal RFP. All comments will be kept confidential. Only electronic comments will be accepted. Electronic comments are due within three weeks after the publication of this synopsis. Clarifications to the Draft RFP will not be provided in response to offeror initiated telephone calls. Electronic comments shall be marked "Comments on Draft NIH Network Infrastructure RFP" and forwarded to the following E-mail address: Julius_Tidwell@nih.gov. The National Institutes of Health may conduct individual conferences with interested organizations during the period of April 24, 1997 through May 16, 1997. The National Institutes of Health is conducting these conferences in response to numerous requests from interested parties. Each organization will be limited to one visit, with a maximum of three representatives. The conferences will not exceed a fifty minute duration. The conferences will provide organizations with an opportunity to state their company objectives and capabilities as they relate to the NIH Network Infrastructure acquisition and obtain general information about NIH CERTAN acquisitions. All requests for conferences must be forwarded electronically to Julius Y. Tidwell, NIH, Office of Procurement Management at the E-mail address specified above. All requests for conferences must be submitted by May 2, 1997. The NIH will make its best efforts to schedule and hold conferences with all requesting organizations prior to the release of the formal NIH Network Infrastructure RFP. However, it is possible that the NIH will be unable to hold conferences with every requesting organization due to the number of requests and the availability of resources. Therefore, the conferences will be scheduled in the order the requests are received and no conferences will be held after the release of the formal NIH Network Infrastructure RFP. (0108)

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