D -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT SUPPORT TO INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (IFM) SYSTEM ASSET MANAGEMENT SUPPORT TO INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (IFM) SYSTEM REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. This is a Request For Information (RFI) issued solely for information and planning purposes -- it does not constitute a Request For Proposal (RFP). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is requesting information to assess technical and functional attributes of the various asset management Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software packages that are currently available or that will become available in the next 1-2 years for inclusion in its new Integrated Financial Management (IFM) system. NASA's IFM system will implement a new agencywide core financial management capability and related administrative functions using COTS software. NASA desires to include agencywide asset management capability in its IFM system. The information obtained in response to this RFI will be used exclusively by NASA personnel and their consultants to assist in planning for acquiring asset management software that is fully integrated with the IFM system currently being implemented. NASA has reengineered business processes to provide integration among functional processes within the scope of integrated asset management to fully support life cycle management of NASA assets. The COTS software applications for which NASA is seeking information will be Year 2000 compliant and will support the planning, acquisition, maintenance, and disposition of NASA's assets as part of the following functions: (1) Logistics (supply): inventory management (stock replenishment, management of shelf life materials, Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) parts management, lot/date tracking of critical hardware and components, kitting/provisioning, material safety data sheet (MSDS), customer order entry); furniture management; interfacing with the Federal Cataloging system, receiving and issuing; equipment (cataloging, track, transfers, life cycle management, maintenance, calibration, temporary and long-term storage), disposal (HAZ/MAT decontamination, sales, donations, reutilization, cannibalization); warehousing (warehouse management, custodial storage, environmental storage, control storage); distribution (intracenter distribution, intercenter shipment); and motor vehicle/fleet management (dispatch and maintenance); (2) Facilities: facilities project management; design process management; construction management, tracking, and status reporting; maintenance management including routine, reliability centered, predictive, and deferred; space management and facility utilization; and real property management including asset depreciation evaluation, and calculation and reporting; (3) Aircraft management: fleet management, maintenance, crew training/flight time, flight scheduling, interagency parts requisition, and configuration management; and (4) Environmental: collecting requirements, establishing priorities, and identifying resources needed to sustain environmental compliance through the Federal environmental program planning (FEDPLAN) process; environmental compliance and restoration program management; project/budget execution tracking; support of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/cultural/historical resource processes during asset planning and disposal; chemical tracking/storage/issue/consumption; hazardous waste characterization/inventory control/tracking/disposal/records retention; environmental permit planning/development/maintenance/cost tracking; air and water emissions tracking; compliance inspections for permitted/regulated assets; storage tank loss measurement/inspection; energy consumption tracking/usage allocation; and support of cleanup/closure processes as required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The asset management software shall comply with Federal and agencywide reporting and metrics requirements. Responses shall state whether or not this capability is already contained within the COTS. GOALS -- NASA's goal is to implement an asset management system that is integrated within the IFM system and among the internal functional modules of asset management. The contractor will be responsible for working with NASA personnel and the IFMP contractor for integration of the asset management software into the IFM system. IFMP uses Oracle 8 as the database and KPMG's Performance Series software. Implementation of the system will include: (1) integration and standardization of data and systems across all NASA Centers, (2) providing management with access to timely and accurate asset management information on programs and projects, and (3) implementation of advanced technology to provide the greatest capability and an extended life cycle. NASA intends to use this RFI to develop an acquisition strategy for asset management. SCOPE -- These systems will be used to support NASA's entire civil service population (approximately 20,000) at all NASA Centers and NASA Headquarters (10 major sites) and the management of NASA's assets of approximately $27.6 billion in estimated book value. ENVIRONMENT -- All 10 NASA Centers are interconnected via a high speed computer network that is a part of the worldwide Internet. NASA maintains its own backbone network based on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). This wide area network (WAN) has direct links to local area networks (LANs) at each field location. Interested parties should assume that any NASA employee using asset management applications would be equipped with a web-enabled personal computer (Intel/Windows, Macintosh or UNIX) and a LAN connection providing connectivity to other NASA locations. NASA intends to utilize radio frequency technology and bar coding in its asset management. SURVEY OBJECTIVES -- NASA is collecting data to enable it to prepare its acquisition strategy for asset management. Objectives of this RFI include obtaining an understanding of and making assessments about appropriate COTS application software with respect to the following: (1) Currently available and planned future functional capabilities in the near term (1-2 years) in the asset management areas consisting of business processes supported, application capabilities, and human engineering and usability testing applied. (2) Will current application software capabilities pass independent third party testing for compliance with Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) and Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) requirements? (3) Currently available technology and planned technology capabilities in the near term (1-3 years) including but not limited to: (a) Fundamental technologies employed, including but not limited to: client/server architecture; graphical user interface (GUI) and development tools; electronic data interchange (EDI), including the use of X12 transaction sets; electronic commerce (EC); digital signatures; security (data and system); and object capabilities (language, database, architecture (Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)). (b) Support for and compliance with standards: X/Open Portability Guide, Issue 4; Structured Query Language (SQL); CORBA; TCP/IP; and any others utilized. (c) Scalability: the degree to which the systems support workgroup operations and how they scale to support enterprise wide data integration and retrieval. (d) Implementation environment: computer platform requirements; operating system requirements; database requirements (vendors, types, structure, etc.); application language(s); application structure, integration, etc.; data query, download/upload capabilities. (e) Architecture: What architecture options are available for implementing your application in the NASA environment? Does it support a distributed environment? If multiple architectures are offered, provide information on functional application differences (for instance, between vendor's mainframe and client/server-based systems). (f) Geographical information system (GIS): GIS capabilities to capture and report data and information using spatial reference and coordinates. (4) Business/Other: (a) Identify potential for on-line Internet access to application software and a test database at vendor's own facility. (b) Identify status and readiness of software or planned readiness dates for future capabilities. NASA is seeking comprehensive information for planning purposes. Responses are requested if you can provide any components of the relevant application. If you cannot provide all necessary components of the asset management application, you should identify the aspects you can provide. Information should be submitted in the form of a "white paper," limited to no more than 50 pages in length. Additional informational brochures or user manuals are welcome. Any material submitted, including the white paper, will not be returned. Interested parties shall submit responses (excluding brochures) electronically via 3.5" diskette in either IBM PC or Macintosh readable form. The preferred word processor format is Microsoft Word 6.0, Word Perfect, or ASCII file. If brochures or manuals are to be submitted, respondents shall provide 30 copies of any materials that are not available electronically. NASA intends to distribute the responses to this RFI widely within the Agency for review purposes. Accordingly, respondents shall clearly identify sensitive or proprietary material. NASA reserves the right to contact vendors to provide clarifications on capabilities or to ask questions. Individual respondents should indicate whether they are a large, small, small disadvantaged or women-owned business. NASA shall not assume any expenses incurred by any of the respondents to this RFI. For additional information concerning this request, contact Mel Potts at (256) 544-6114 or at the following email address: mel.potts@msfc.nasa.gov. Responses should be sent to Cynthia J. Stoltz, Contracting Officer, Mail Code 401.2, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt MD 20771. WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/GSFC/date.html#AIM-IFMP. E-MAIL: Rebecca L. Barth, Rebecca.L.Barth.1@gsfc.nasa.gov. Posted 09/30/98 (D-SN256927).

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