70 -- HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SYSTEM

Notice Date

February 5, 2001

Contracting Office

U.S. Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/OFA/AGFS/AMD -- OFA51, 1305 East West Highway -- Station 7604, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

ZIP Code

20910

Response Due

April 20, 2001

Point of Contact

William L. Voitk, Contracting Officer (301) 713-0839, ext 185

E-Mail Address

Click here to contact the contracting officer via (William.Voitk@noaa.gov)

Description

The National Weather Service (NWS), within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), anticipates acquiring a Central Computer System (CCS) that will enhance the computing capabilities at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in Camp Springs, Maryland. This enhanced computational capability will replace NCEP's current RS/6000 SP supercomputer, leased from IBM, and will provide the primary resource needed by NCEP to carry out its operational mission. Increased computational power is essential for NCEP to meet its weather and climate forecasting goals and thereby provide improved service to the Public. In order to fulfill the objective of acquiring the CCS in FY2002, NCEP will utilize the Department of Commerce's re-engineered acquisition process referred to as "Consolidated Operations" or CONOPS, described in "Department of Commerce Acquisition Process Case for Change" (available from the CONOPS home page located at http://oamweb.osec.doc.gov/conops). A CCS Acquisition Team ("the Team"), has been formed within the Department of Commerce, and a Project Agreement has been executed between the Team and management to spell out the objectives, milestones, approach, budget and resources available for the project. The Project Agreement and background documents describing this project are available on the Internet at the Project web site (http://www.ncep.noaa.gov, Central Computer System Acquisition). Interested parties should continue to monitor this web site for additional information concerning this project. NCEP is seeking varied concepts and innovative approaches to obtain the needed computing system within the time frame and budget allocated. Publishing of the Project Agreement is intended to provide the high-performance computer industry a general overview of the requirements, time frames and budget, as well as to open a formal communication channel between industry and the Team. The Team will also provide a draft Statement of Need (SON) on the Project web site, sample operational codes and initial benchmark codes by February 2001. The Team welcomes industry comments, questions and suggestions which will aid the Team in developing its acquisition strategy and finalizing the SON. The Team will consider input received in response to this RFI as it continues to develop the SON and the Request for Proposals (RFP). The Team does not anticipate the need for a pre-proposal conference, but if one is deemed necessary, information will be posted on the Project web site. The Team may conduct one-on-one communications in an effort to benefit fully from industry responses to this RFI. Parties interested in providing information which the Team may use in developing the Government's technical or acquisition approach should review carefully the Project Agreement and supporting documents referenced in the Project Agreement that are available on the Internet at the Project web site (http://www.ncep.noaa.gov). One of the purposes of this RFI is to provide vendors with sample operational codes (a 24 hour snapshot) and initial benchmark codes which will give an indication of the type of programs that may be expected to run on NCEP's new CCS. A complete list of the major NCEP models and the schedule that must be maintained is available at http://www.ncep.noaa.gov/nco/pmb/prodstat . Instructions for obtaining the benchmark codes is available at http://www.ncep.noaa.gov. The Team requests that vendors submit their benchmark test results with their RFI response in order to give NCEP an indication of the performance of the recommended computing resources. One of the principal outcomes of vendor/Government dialog will be to ensure that viable approaches are considered during the competition. The Government may therefore utilize the information provided to design its acquisition strategy to take into account viable acquisition alternatives. In addition to using the information provided by vendors to assist in its acquisition strategy, the Team may also use the information to determine which vendors do not appear to be viable candidates for the eventual award of a contract. Those vendors may be contacted and informed that it does not appear to be in their best interests to compete for the NCEP contract. However, if those vendors choose to remain in the competition and later submit proposals, the Team will not be prejudiced by its initial determination. Any vendor that requests, will receive a written or oral explanation of the Team's initial determination as it pertains to that vendor. It is not the Government's intent to disclose vendor proprietary information and trade secrets to the public. The information submitted by vendors during the pre-solicitation period may be used by the Government in preparing its RFP and finalizing the SON, provided this can be done without disclosing proprietary vendor information that is protected from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and other laws and regulations. Interested vendors should respond in writing to the following topics (vendors who submit written responses will be invited to augment their written responses with a 2-hour oral presentation in May 2001: (a) A description of a CCS that meets or exceeds NCEP requirements while remaining within the estimated budget. The description must address how the proposed system will meet NCEP's operational requirements as illustrated by the sample operational codes. (b) An upgrade plan (including business and technical approach) of how the Government will benefit during the life cycle of this acquisition. The following topics should be addressed: (i) A technology roadmap and how it relates to the length of the contract and the frequency of upgrades. (ii) Potential architectural transitions across upgrades. (c) A description of the services which will be provided to maintain the CCS over its proposed 9-year life. (d) Potential financing alternatives, such as straight leasing, LTOPs, purchase and rough cost estimates for the alternatives, broken down by hardware, software, and services, and any other associated costs. It is the intent of NCEP to acquire the CCS via a contractual arrangement satisfying the following conditions: (i) The payments for system acquisition are expected to extend over 9 fiscal years (2003-2011) and may conclude with the system belonging to the Government. (ii) The intended life-cycle for the system is 9 years -- a base 3-year period with two optional 3-year periods. (iii) If the Government owns the system at the conclusion of its intended life, the system could be operated longer than is now planned, at the option of the Government. (iv) If a vendor recommends straight leasing, the vendor must demonstrate the Government's benefit in not owning the equipment at the end of the project life cycle. (e) A description of the vendor's qualifications for providing the CCS (including the extent of subcontracting) and past experience in providing relevant computational capabilities. (f) Benchmarks (i) The vendor should attempt to compile and run the initial benchmark codes, compare the vendor's results with NCEP's results, and keep a record of the time required to run the code. Any modifications to the code should be thoroughly documented. If a benchmark simply cannot be run essentially unmodified, the vendor should inform NCEP through the web page to initiate a dialogue regarding that benchmark code. It is not critical at this point for the vendor to try to fully optimize performance on the benchmarks during this RFI phase. NCEP only requests timings to establish a basis for dialogue and a better overall market picture. All results and timings which the vendor reports will be kept in complete confidence. (ii) Initial benchmarks are provided that test computational capability and the ability to analyze data. The initial computational benchmarks are the Eta and Global weather prediction models and the data analysis application associated with each model. The benchmarks may be acquired by following the instructions on the RFI web site (http://www.ncep.noaa.gov). There are instructions on how to run each benchmark, as well as how to determine if a run is successful. (iii) The vendor is requested to provide results on running the benchmarks. Precisely what should be provided is included in the benchmark instructions supplied with each benchmark. (g) A performance-based contractor incentive plan. The vendor's submission should reflect an understanding of NCEP's requirements for product delivery and an overall approach to providing the required capabilities. Multiple or alternative approaches are welcome. Although this RFI requests specific information, it is not intended to discourage innovative thinking on the part of industry to propose alternative solutions or approaches that the Team may not have considered. Interested parties may also submit comments or suggestions in addition to or in lieu of a written approach. Those comments are welcome, but will not be considered an approach for the purpose of advising vendors as to their viability as candidates for the planned competition or for invitation to a formal oral presentation. For the comments/suggestion submission, the vendor is encouraged to provide any comments or recommendations it may have on technology, acquisition strategy, contractual mechanism or other issues that would assist the Team in developing the RFP. The vendor is also encouraged to provide suggestions for inclusion of information in the RFP that would enable the vendor to prepare a complete and accurate proposal. Vendors responding should provide a point-of-contact, including: representative's name, email address, mailing address, and telephone number. Written submissions in response to this RFI should not exceed ten (10) pages (including charts and graphs). Please submit digital copies to the contracting officer (William.Voitk@noaa.gov) in either WordPerfect or Word formats. Benchmark results should be summarized in an attachment to the written RFI response, not to exceed four pages. The Team requests that all documents be received by the Government by 4:00 PM Washington DC local time, on Friday, April 20, 2001. Note that vendors need not respond to this RFI as a prerequisite for participating in the acquisition. The Team will operate a "Questions and Answers" page on the Project web site for vendor questions related to this requirement. Questions should be submitted electronically to this web site. The Team will post the vendor questions and Government answers on the Project web site for public viewing, without revealing the source of the questions. If a vendor asks a question that involves proprietary information, the vendor should provide detailed information explaining why the question should be protected from disclosure. Vendor questions designated as proprietary or confidential will be protected from disclosure (except where otherwise required by law and judicial process). The Team will attempt to post answers to questions on the Project web site within a week of receipt.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010207/70SOL010.HTM (W-036 SN50C7I2)