MODIFICATION
D -- NIH Commons Credit Model Pilot - Attachments
- Notice Date
- 8/23/2016
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Administration, 6011 Executive Blvd, 5th Floor, Rockville, Maryland, 20852-3804, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852-3804
- Solicitation Number
- NIH-NIHCOMMONS2-2016
- Archive Date
- 7/6/2016
- Point of Contact
- Brendan MIller, Phone: 3015940957
- E-Mail Address
-
brendan.miller2@nih.gov
(brendan.miller2@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- FBO Call Performance Reporting Commons Credit Pilot Providers The Office of the Associate Director for Data Science (ADDS) wishes to announce the following changes to the cloud credits program. These changes are designed to simplify the process of applying for conformant provider status when acting as a reseller of services and/or as a provider of Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS), and provides additional detail about the mechanism by which NIH, via the MITRE corporation will purchase and deliver computing credits to NIH Principal Investigators (PIs). Application process changes: Reviewing the application to be a conformant provider, the instructions for this application and the conformance requirements, as well as feedback from applicants we have identified two issues which we propose to remediate. The first issue is that there is a disconnect between the conformance requirements, which require only that a PaaS/SaaS provider meet the requirements and the instructions, which require that the PaaS/SaaS provider must point to a conformance certification of an underlying Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider where the PaaS/SaaS provider is (functionally) acting as a reseller of the IaaS provider to meet the conformance requirements. This makes the PaaS/SaaS provider dependent on the actions of a third party, including having that third party enter into a business relationship with MITRE, even if the PaaS/SaaS provider is meeting all of the requirements via its own business relationships with that third-party IaaS provider. The second issue is similar and relates to resellers of cloud services. The application instructions, as currently written, would require both the base provider and the reseller to separately certify as conformant, preventing resellers from making services available without action by the third party provider, including having the third party provider enter into an agreement with MITRE. In short, the instructions imply that a reseller would need to provide two basically identical applications in order to support the sale of IaaS services. In order to resolve this issue, we are submitting a revised application for conformant providers. The application form itself has not changed, only the instructions have changed to bring them in line with the conformance requirements by requiring that the requesting entity certify that they have met the requirements as per our current model of reviewed self-certification. The instructions have been modified to require that where the requestor is meeting a requirement that is provided by reselling or providing access to third party services (i.e. IaaS providers) the requestor must note the source of those services and, if the source is not obviously capable of meeting the requirement that they enclose appropriate links/documentation to support the ability of the third party to meet these requirements. Thus, a PaaS provider that is using a separate IaaS provider for network would need to document/certify that the IaaS provider has sufficient network capacity to meet the requirement. Groups that are using the current form may continue to do so, only the instructions have changed. Participation Agreement and Payment: Previous documents suggested that providers would be reimbursed from funds escrowed in a financial institution. After consultation with counsel, NIH has concluded that it will not be taking this approach; instead, MITRE will pre-purchase computing services for its awardees up to the level of approved credits. Conformant providers will apply these pre-purchased services against usage by credit recipients. As before, the government will not be responsible for expenditures by investigators beyond the approved limits transmitted to providers and pre-purchased. This change will require an amendment to the participation agreement, a revised agreement will be available shortly.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/OoA/NIH-NIHCOMMONS2-2016/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Bethesda, Maryland, 20852, United States
- Zip Code: 20852
- Zip Code: 20852
- Record
- SN04235977-W 20160825/160823234504-6105ccb7717f284f5975884a2d1ae236 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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