142083-25-0001 - AWIPS RFI Questions.pdf

1. INTRODUCTION:

The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Central Processing (CP) is issuing this Request for Information

(RFI) from industry to understand and identify potential tools, techniques and best practices related to developing, integrating and maintaining a large cloud-based environment used to support an operational mission.

This RFI is being used to gather market research from industry for the NWS to develop strategies for running a large operational environment on cloud resources. Responses to this RFI will assist the NWS in drafting a follow-up Performance Work Statement pertaining to this project.

2. BACKGROUND:

The NWS mission covers many time and space scales, from issuing short-fused and accurate local tornado warnings and hurricane track and intensity predictions, to daily global, regional, and local weather forecasts to protect life and property. The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) is the key operational system that NWS forecasters use to create and disseminate forecasts and warnings to the public, emergency management decision makers, and the private weather enterprise. AWIPS addresses a diverse set of NWS operational requirements including warning and forecast functions at NWS Weather Forecast

Offices (WFOs), River Forecast Centers (RFCs), National Centers (NCs), Central Weather Service Units

(CWSUs) and Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs). The NWS forecast mission encompasses a wide spectrum of geographic and temporal scales, from mesoscale to global, and from minutes to months, respectively. AWIPS is currently deployed at about 170 sites across the Nation.

AWIPS functionality can be broadly divided into four categories: (1) the ingest and storage of hydrometeorological data and other geo-referenced information, (2) the application of algorithms and tools that operate on the hydrometeorological data, (3) the visualization of the hydrometeorological data and supporting information in an integrated fashion, and (4) the generation and dissemination of various products and information to NWS partners and the public.

Work is in progress to migrate the functionality of the legacy AWIPS to a cloud-based platform. The development team is creating microservices that can be orchestrated into a complete operational system.

The contract offering that will follow this RFI will need to use that resulting system as a basis for execution, monitoring and enhancement.

3. VISION:

Providing an innovative data processing platform to support the National Weather Enterprise anytime, anywhere.

4. MISSION:

The AWIPS contract provides world-class software development, support, and maintenance, including timely data integration, that enables the NWS to provide cloud-based forecasts, watches, warnings, and decision support services.

5. OBJECTIVES:

5.1. For Security Support Services, the AWIPS Program seeks to provide effective compliance with

DOC/NOAA/NWS Information Technology (IT) Security policies and integration of Industry best practices to preserve the integrity and availability of the system.

5.2. For Operations & Maintenance (O&M), the AWIPS Program seeks to provide the NWS with an uninterrupted, reliable system that is consistently patched and updated without degrading essential functions or the user experience.

5.3. For End-User Training and Storm Reviews, the AWIPS Program seeks to provide an integrated training environment that replicates the operational environment, allowing the NWS to train users in the manner in which they operate, utilizing historical and live datasets.

5.4. For Software Development, the AWIPS Program seeks to provide an Agile software development lifecycle that enables cutting edge development of high-quality capabilities in a timely manner.

5.5. For Data Management, the AWIPS Program seeks to securely access, process, store, and validate data required for the NWS operations in a timely manner.

5.6. For Transition In/Out, the AWIPS Program seeks a smooth transition of the contract at the start and end of the contract period of performance (POP) with no loss in capability or data to avoid negative developmental and operational impact.

5.7. For Help Desk Support, the AWIPS Program seeks timely resolution of issues; a one stop shop for user support regardless of location or tech boundaries.

6. QUESTIONS:

6.1. Contract Structure

6.1.1. In your experience, are similar requirements best performed as an all-inclusive contract or would it be better performed by separate contracts for each objective?

6.1.2. Based on the objectives above, and your experience with similar efforts, what labor categories would you envision necessary to address the scope and expertise of the objectives that NOAA requires?

6.1.3. The Government is considering structuring this effort as a multiple-award contract to support our transition to Open Architecture. This may require coordination and cooperation among various contractors to achieve the Government’s objectives.

6.1.3.1. What are your organization's experience in collaborating with other contracted agencies and building Associate Contractor Agreements (ACA)?

6.1.3.2. Would this be something your organization is willing to pursue?

6.1.3.3. Do you foresee any issues or concerns with this consideration?

6.1.4. The Government is planning to host an industry day following the review of submissions.

6.1.4.1. Would your organization be interested in attending the industry day?

6.1.4.2. Would you be interested in a one-on-one Q&A session?

6.2. Agile Software Development

6.2.1. In your experience, what is the best approach to providing an Agile development environment under a Firm Fixed Price contract type?

6.2.2. What types of Software Development Lifecycle tools are applicable to an Agile environment?

6.2.3. What deliverables would you suggest to track progress on the objectives? Why?

6.2.4. What types of metrics do you find work best in an Agile development environment? Why?

6.2.5. What testing strategies would you propose for an Agile development environment?

6.2.6. In your experience, what is the best approach to practically organizing geographically distributed Agile teams? How would you organize and conduct regular meetings across time zones?

6.2.7. In your experience, what is the best approach to working in a multi-team environment where some of the teams are from different organizations, agencies or companies?

6.3. Operations and Maintenance / Helpdesk

6.3.1. In your experience, what is the best approach to providing O&M and Helpdesk support for a large, geographically distributed, high-availability system? What types of tools are best applied to the stated O&M and Helpdesk objectives?

6.3.2. What best practices can be applied to a busy, 24x7x365 Helpdesk?

6.3.3. Describe the best practices for troubleshooting and responding to user concerns for an operational system where users have a scientific background and are widely geographically distributed.

6.3.4. What is the best approach to configuration and change management? What tools can be applied to both areas?

6.3.5. In your experience, what is the best approach to transitioning development to operational support?

6.3.6. What challenges are presented in the management of a large support team (potentially involving multiple sub-teams or tiers of teams), and what strategies/tools may assist in the tracking and management of tasking between those relevant groups?

6.4. Security

6.4.1. In your experience, what are the best practices toward addressing IT security and security requirements for a large, highly available, operational system?

6.4.2. In your experience, are there special considerations that should be considered to ensure the integrity and availability of data stored in the cloud?

6.4.3. What is the best way to monitor and manage risk for all aspects of the stated objectives?

6.4.4. In your experience, what IT security considerations should be considered in a large, cloud-based system? How would these considerations change if on-premises components are present?

6.5. General

6.5.1. In your experience, what is the best approach to working with large datasets of varying formats that update rapidly?

6.5.2. In your experience, what are the best practices for maintaining project integrity in the case of staff turnover?

6.5.3. In your experience, how would you handle the transition both at the beginning and end of the contract? What documentation and artifacts would you provide?

6.5.4. Given the scope and size of AWIPS, along with our shift towards an Agile development environment, please describe the most effective approach for delivering documentation that is usable by developers and users.