U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Finance Center (NFC), 13800 Old Gentilly Rd., Bldg 350, MAF, New Orleans, LA 70129

70 -- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT SOL ACQ NO CRMB 8-063 DUE 082698 POC F. G. COLLINS, Contract Specialist, (504) 255-5910 WEB: URL, LINK. E-MAIL: USDA, National Finance Center, florence.collins@usda.gov. USDA, OCFO, National Finance Center (NFC), provides Payroll/Personnel and general financial administrative services for the USDA and other government agencies. The current system is over 13 years old and is currently being brought into Year 2000 compliance. In addition, the users have requested additional capability and services such as client server deployment, TCP/IP communication access to payroll data, and the flexibility to deploy the system to multiple operating systems. The NFC is seeking to procure four (4) Communication Protocol Converters. The total system must be a turn key solution that will work in the current ADP/NETWORKING ENVIRONMENT: Hardware -- Converter will be attached to the IBM 9021-9x2 mainframe via ESCON channel and the NFC LAN via TCP/IP (FDDI and Ethernet connections). The Y2K and disaster recovery environments emulate similar connectivity. Software -- The IBM 9021-9x2 mainframe operating environment is OS390 and the LAN environment will be Windows NT environment. The Y2K and disaster recovery environments emulate similar connectivity. The contractor shall provide all hardware with associated peripherals and cabling and all software required to accomplish this task. The contractor shall provide technical documentation required for installation readiness. The offeror shall identify warranty terms for each item offered. The delivery is required within 30 calendar days after receipt of a contract. A written solicitation will not be issued. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for pre-configured off-the-shelf hardware/software. All responsible sources may submit a quotation identifying current installations available to demonstrate their ability to deliver the turnkey protocol conversion functional capabilities. Proposals which are timely received, shall be considered by the agency. Submit response to USDA, NFC, Attn.: F. G. Collins, Acquisition Unit, 13800 Old Gentilly Road, Bldg. 350 MAF, New Orleans, LA 70129 on or before close of business August 26, 1998. If no affirmative responses are received, the government intends to commence negotiations with Bus-Tech Inc., Burlington, MA. "See Note(s) 1, 26" Posted 08/13/98 (W-SN236934). (0225)

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