NOSC-PWS-Dec_21.docx

Indian Health Service Error! No text of specified style in document. January, 2010

Indian Health Service Office of Information Technology Performance Work Statement

For

Network Operations & Support Center

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Release Notes

This information is intended for IHS use only. Disclosure is not expected to cause serious harm to IHS, and access is provided freely to all internal users via the organization's Intranet.

Table of Contents

Indian Health Service Error! No text of specified style in document. January, 2010 Release Notes Indian Health Service Office of Information Technology

Network Operations and Support Center Draft Performance Work Statement Introduction Background The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The provision of health services to members of federally-recognized tribes grew out of the special government-to-government relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. The IHS is the principal federal health care provider and health advocate for Indian people, and its goal is to raise their health status to the highest possible level. The IHS provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 566 federally recognized tribes in 35 states.

The IHS delivery system is composed of 12 administrative Area Offices, which oversee local Service Units. Each Area Office has the responsibility for operating the IHS program within a designated geographical region. Their administrative duties include budget, operation, personnel and property management, program planning and implementation tribal affairs, community development, statistical monitoring, grants and contract management, and environment program direction. Health care is provided at the Service Unit level through the IHS itself, through tribally operated facilities, urban programs or through the contract health services program.

Office of Information Technology To support the agency mission, the IHS Office of Information Technology (OIT), manages the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS). It is a distributed electronic healthcare information system deployed at IHS sites and includes clinical, administrative, and financial information on patients and resources. It is also integrated with the Agency’s national data repository, the National Patient Information Reporting System (NPIRS) and with applications to securely exchange patient information with other healthcare providers.

In support of the RPMS and other applications, the Office of Information Technology manages the network infrastructure to provide network connectivity between IHS sites and to external networks such as the Internet, other Government departments and healthcare partners supporting IHS to deliver services.

Objectives The objective of this solicitation is to select a contractor to manage and operate the IHS network infrastructure described in the System Environment in this document. The IHS requires an off-site Network Operations and Support Center (NOSC), staffed with experienced network specialists to maintain the existing network functionality and to design, implement and support new network technology. The contractor shall furnish the necessary staff and staff facilities to meet the IHS program objectives. Services shall be provide 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Scope The Performance Work Statement (PWS) tasks and functional areas of service are described below.

Network Operations Center Service Desk The contractor shall operate a service desk for customers to report network connectivity issues. The contractor shall not allow any service request to go unresolved due to lack of ownership or lack of coordination with other IT or Security support teams within IHS. The contractor shall:

Staff the service desk with technically qualified network specialists 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Record all service requests for support in an incident tracking system.

Respond and resolve all network connectivity issues reported to the service desk.

Support requests to troubleshoot application connectivity and performance issues which may be related to the network infrastructure.

Support requests to troubleshoot voice and video connectivity and performance issues which may be related to the network infrastructure.

Proactively seek customer satisfaction feedback through follow-up calls after a service request has been completed and through periodic surveys.

Service calls shall be answered directly by qualified network specialists. Calls shall not be filtered through a call center or answered by non-technical staff for later call back.

The OIT maintains a service desk between the hours 6:00am to 6:00pm MST Monday to Friday, (excluding federal holidays). For calls outside these times, OIT forwards calls to the Network Operations and Support Center service desk. The contractor shall provide tier 1 support to resolve issues reported by customers. If an issue cannot be resolved, the contractor shall log the call for next day response from the appropriate team; or escalate to an on-call tier 3 support team for immediate response as defined in the IHS After-Hours Notification Standard Operating procedure (SOP).

Network Event and System Monitoring The contractor shall monitor the network infrastructure to detect conditions which impact network connectivity. The monitoring must be capable of detecting both hard down failure conditions and proactively detect degraded response times to applications hosted in OIT data centers. The monitoring shall be implemented and maintained in each OIT data center and not depended upon a single location or device. The contractor shall:

Monitor the network infrastructure devices to detect failures such as power, software, memory or other issues which could impact functionality.

Monitor the network circuits to detect circuit issues such as hard failures, intermittent failures or other errors leading to degraded service.

Analyze log information and proactively monitor for issues which require correction.

Initiate corrective actions with third party vendors such as circuit providers or hardware manufactures.

Manage the progress of third party vendors in their efforts to implement corrective action and escalate based on vendor service level agreements.

Proactively communicate status and expected resolution times to IHS staff impacted by network connectivity failures.

Measure and report network availability statistics for each location connected to the IHS Wide Area Network.

As requested by OIT or area IT staff, monitor the availability of non-network infrastructure devices.

Network Infrastructure Configuration Management The contractor shall:

Document a change control process for network devices which is aligned with the IHS Change Control SOP.

Maintain a change control system which automatically records all configuration changes on the network infrastructure devices. Historically information on configuration changes must be searchable by username, device name, date and time.

Provide remote support to IHS employees and contractors installing network infrastructure devices which could include routers, switches and wireless devices.

Implement software upgrades on network infrastructure devices.

Implement configuration changes on the network devices to address planned or unplanned business requirement.

Document all configuration changes in a ticketing system.

Proactively review network device configurations for consistency and conformance with requirements recommended in Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) (http://iase.disa.mil/Pages/index.aspx) and by the IHS Division of Information Security.

Design and Implement New Network Technology The contractor shall support the design and implementation of new technology and functionality on the IHS network infrastructure. Examples of new network technology and functionality could include:

· Network traffic encryption.

· Network security features on all Local Area and Wide Area Network equipment.

· Caching and application acceleration technology.

· Enhanced Quality of Service for VoIP and video deployments.

· Routing enhancements to improving routing convergence.

· Network support for IPv6.

· Network support local and global traffic load balancing.

· Network infrastructure for storage devices.

· Network infrastructure for wireless and wired networks.

The contractor shall:

Promote the OIT objective to standardize and simplify the design, and operation of the network infrastructure.

Implement industry best practices during the deployment of new network technology and functionality.

Provide technical input and assistance with estimated, budgetary costs for any new network infrastructure devices hardware and software.

Collect information from the existing network to help quantify requirements.

Perform proof-of-concept testing to validate design assumptions and/or vendor claims on functionality or interoperability.

Develop configurations and implementation plans before deployment.

Incorporate into the 7x24 support and monitoring processes.

Telecommunication Circuits - Adds, Changes and Deletions The contractor shall manage all circuit additions, changes and disconnections which may be the result of a change in requirements or circuit transfers between telecommunication vendors due to contract changes. At OIT data centers and sites providing 24 hour service, circuit’s changes shall be performed at midnight local time, to minimize the impact to services. The contractor shall:

Provide historical information on circuit utilization which can be used for circuit sizing purposes.

Obtain cost estimates for circuit upgrades. Estimates should include monthly reoccurring costs and any Custom Access costs charged by the telecommunication provider.

When Custom Access is required, support IHS and HHS staff to identify technical requirements to include telecommunication contract modifications.

Enter draft orders through the vendor’s ordering system for circuit upgrades, changes and inside wiring requests.

Coordinate all circuit installation activities with the vendor and IHS site staff.

Staff all circuit activations and changes to implement the required configuration on IHS network devices and perform acceptance testing.

Maintain a database of circuit information which can be used for problem reporting and circuit inventory management.

Report circuit issues to telecommunication providers and escalate based on telecommunication provider Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Monitor the telecommunication vendor’s performance to meet service level agreements and assist IHS in obtaining credits when service level agreements are not met.

Measure uptime for each circuit and for the network as a whole to provide an overall network availability value.

Collect network traffic statistics for capacity planning purposes and for forecasting future bandwidth requirements and networks readiness to support new services.

Proactively notify IHS sites about scheduled circuit maintenance.

Network Equipment Inventory Management The contractor shall maintain a comprehensive inventory of network infrastructure devices and IP address spaces used on the IHS network. The inventory shall be suitable for asset management and for identifying equipment requiring maintenance coverage. The contractor shall:

Maintain an up-to-date inventory of network devices used on the IHS network. Collection of this information should be automated to allow timely and accurate reporting when devices are added and removed from the network.

Generate device inventory reports for contract maintenance renewals.

Generate reports on equipment reaching end of support from the vendor.

Maintain an accurate inventory of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses space used on the IHS network.

Voice Services Support The contractor shall support the installation and management of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks for voice and video communication. The SIP trunks will be used to allow distributed VoIP systems across IHS to exchange information and to access the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The contractor shall:

Setup and support SIP trunk connections between telecommunication service providers and the IHS network.

Configure and support Session Border Controllers to securely terminate SIP trunk connections.

Perform acceptance testing for SIP trunk services.

Configure and support Cisco Session Management Edition (SME) for SIP-to-SIP connections.

Troubleshoot and support voice and video connection and quality issues for calls over SIP trunks and Cisco SME.

In addition to SIP trunk support, the contractor shall also:

Support area sites to isolate call failure issues related to PSTN calls through PRI circuits procured through the Networx contract.

Support area sites to isolate call failure issues related to toll-free numbers procured through the Networx contract.

Afterhours Support for User VPN Access The contractor shall provide afterhours support for user VPN accessing the IHS network. The contractor shall:

Provide Tier 1 support for Citrix based VPN access and resolve issues reported by users. Examples of tier 1 support currently provided include:

· Resolve authentication issues related to Active Directory credentials and two factor authentication methods including Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards, Entrust tokens and PhoneFactor.

· Resolve connection failures related to Java or other operating system error.

· Change telephone numbers associated with callers PhoneFactor record.

· Provide users with a temporary PIN for Entrust tokens.

· Open an OIT service desk ticket for a replacement Entrust token.

· Verify Entrust authentication and unlock or synchronize token.

· Troubleshoot and resolve connection issues related to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access to terminal servers.

For unresolved issues, log the call for next day response. For issues requiring immediate assistance, follow the IHS afterhours support SOP and escalate to the tier 3 Citrix VPN support team.

Firewall & Security Appliance Support The contractor shall manage all network firewalls and support the Division of Information Security with the installation of inline network security appliances. Firewalls and security appliances are installed between the IHS network and the Internet, the non-federal network, healthcare partners and other government agencies. The contractor shall:

Follow all policies mandated by the IHS Division of Information Security on firewall configuration management.

Support the IHS Division of Information Security on incident response investigations.

Maintain firewall configuration rules, signature sets and patch levels to ensure a coherent defense-in-depth security posture is maintained.

Implement firewall and router configuration changes to allow or prevent access between the IHS network and external networks, Configure network firewalls and routers to access the IHS network using LAN-to-LAN tunnels. In some cases, the contractor shall configure both the IHS side and the remote side of the LAN-to-LAN tunnel connection.

Configure and support inline security appliances required for traffic inspection by the Division of Information Security.

Troubleshoot connectivity issues related to access and performance issues over the LAN-to-LAN tunnel connections.

Perform log analysis to identify miss-configured devices consuming bandwidth and firewall CPU resources.

Network Traffic Load Balancer Support The contractor shall manage network load balancers used in the OIT data centers. The contractor shall:

Work with application teams to define services requirements for load balancing.

Support application teams to test load balancing functionality.

Configure and implement network load balancers to support new and existing applications.

Develop I-Rules rules to enhance server health checks and fault detection, URL redirection, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) offload and other advanced load balancing features.

System Environment Network Infrastructure The table below provides information on the network infrastructure which shall be supported by the contractor. While the existing network routers, firewalls, and switches are primarily Cisco products, IHS may select network infrastructure devices from other vendors in the future.

Wide Area Network

· Approximately 400 sites connected to the Wide Area Network.

· Sites are distributed between two MPLS networks provided by Verizon through the Networx contract.

· Access circuits to the MPLS network range in size from single T1s to 500Mbit Ethernet circuits.

· Some sites connect to the network via Point-to-Point circuits provided by local telecommunication providers.

· Cisco routers are used for circuit termination. Models include Cisco ASR1000s, ISR-G1s, ISR-G2s and ISR-4000s.

· Backup connection options include 4G wireless services, satellite connections and LAN-to-LAN tunnel connections over the Internet.

Local Area Networks

· OIT Data Centers

· The OIT data center in Rockville has approximately 40 Ethernet switches. Switch vendors include Cisco (Catalyst and Nexus) and Dell.

· The OIT data center in Albuquerque has approximately 40 Ethernet switches. Switch vendors include Cisco (Catalyst and Nexus) and Dell.

· Storage network switches includes:

· IBM and EMC fiber channel switches.

· Cisco Nexus Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) switches.

· F5 Load balancers for local and global traffic management.

Local Area Networks

· IHS Headquarters in Rockville

· Wired and wireless network access for approximately 500 staff.

· Approximately 25 Cisco switches.

· Approximately 50 Cisco wireless Access Points (AP).

· Quality of Service (QoS) for VoIP phones.

· Network Access Control (NAC) using Cisco Identify Service Engine (ISE).

Note - For IHS headquarters, the contractor shall lead the support effort for all network equipment. Tier 1 support shall be provided by the onsite IT staff.

Local Area Networks

· IHS Area Sites

· The contract shall provide tier 2 and 3 support for network infrastructure at approximately 150 sites.

· There are approximately 500 Cisco switches distributed across the 150 sites. The number of switches is expected to increase annually by 5% to 8% during the life of the contract.

· Approximately 20 Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers (WLC). The number of WLCs is expected to increase by 15% per year during the life of the contract.

· Approximately 60% of the facilities have small LANs with 1 to 5 VLANs. The remainder may have larger LANs (Hospitals for example) with up to 30 VLANs.

· For IHS area sites, the local IT staff are the lead for LAN support. When requested by the site IT staff, the contractor shall provide tier 2 and 3 LAN support. Examples of support the contractor shall provide include:

· Configure network wired and wireless network infrastructure devices.

· Support site IT staff and contractors with network device installations.

· Implement software upgrades on network devices.

· Troubleshoot connectivity and performance issues related to data, voice and video communication.

· Maintain Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control traffic to medical devices VLANs.

· Implement routing protocol configuration changes.

· Configure security controls.

· Configure QoS.

· Authenticate access and record configuration changes using Cisco Access Control Server (ACS).

Security Appliances

· Eight Cisco ASA firewalls at OIT data centers in Rockville and Albuquerque.

· Approximately 25 Cisco firewalls supported at area sites which are used for LAN-to-LAN tunnel connectivity to the IHS network.

· Gigamon appliances for traffic distribution and SSL de-encryption.

· Inline security tools selected by the Division of Information Security for Intrusion Detection/Preventions Systems and Web Proxy appliances for URL filtering.

Internet Connections

· Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) provided by the department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

· The TIC connections are connected to IHS managed equipment at the OIT data centers in Rockville and Albuquerque.

· Approximately 160 LAN-to-LAN tunnel connections to IHS tribal sites and to healthcare partners providing services to IHS. The number of LAN-to-LAN tunnels is expected to increase annually by approximately 10%.

· Cisco wireless anchor controllers in the data center DMZs for guest Internet access.

Voice Services

· SIP Trunks

· VoIP

· PRI Voice Circuits

· Toll-free Numbers

· Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks. There is currently one SIP trunk in use and this number is expected to increase to ten over the life of the contract.

· Session boarder controllers used for SIP trunk termination include Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE).

· There are approximately ten distributed Cisco based, VoIP clusters deployed across IHS sites and managed by site IT staff.

· Cisco Session Management Edition (SME) shall be installed at OIT data centers and supported by the contractor.

Note, for this PWS, the scope of work includes the installation and support of Cisco SME and SIP trunks at OIT data centers to allow area site VoIP systems to exchange information. The site IT staff are responsible for the day-to-day support of the VoIP systems deployed at their sites.

· Approximately 40 voice circuits procured through the Networx contract for PSTN voice access at area sites.

· Approximately 50 Toll free numbers procured through the Networx contract.

Network Management Tools The table below provides information on the network management tools which are currently used and shall be supported and maintained by the contractor for network Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security (FCAPS) management. Data collected by the tools shall be used to generate reports and to provide online information related to circuit utilization and network statistics. The majority of the tools are hosted on Virtual Machines (VM) at OIT data centers.

Fault Management

· Argus.

· Cisco Embedded Event Manager (EEM).

· Kiwi Syslog Server.

· Solarwinds Engineer’s Toolset.

· Cisco Network Analysis Modules (NAM).

Configuration Management

· RANCID.

· Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

· Microsoft SQL Server.

Performance Management

· Paessler Router Traffic Grapher (PRTG).

· Computer Associate’s Netflow Performance Analyzer.

· Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

· Cisco router features including Netflow, Response Time Reporter (RTR), NBAR (Network Based Application Recognition) and Application Visibility and Control (AVC).

· Visual Studio.

· Computer Associate’s Netflow Performance Analyzer.

Security Management

· Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS).

· Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS).

· Cisco FireSIGHT Management Center.

· Cisco Identify Service Engine (ISE)

General Requirements Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) As a federal entity, the IHS network infrastructure must support both IPv4 and IPv6 concurrently. The network currently supports IPv4 and the contractor shall support IHS with the implementation of IPv6 on all network infrastructure devices and circuits.

Trusted Internet Connection As a federal entity, connections between the IHS network and external networks shall comply with the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) program (http://www.dhs.gov/trusted-internet-connections). The contractor shall implement and manage all IHS external network connections to comply with the TIC program.

Connectivity to Cloud Data Centers It is expected that IHS shall migrate some applications and services to cloud based data centers during the life of this contract. The contractor shall implement and support the network infrastructure required for connectivity between the IHS network and applications and services hosted at cloud data centers.

Telecommunication Contract Changes IHS procures approximately 80% of the telecommunication services used to operate the IHS network from the GSA Networx contract. During the life of the IHS NOSC contract, GSA is expected to replace the Networx contract with a new telecommunication contract (http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/106303 ).

The NOSC contractor shall support IHS with the transition of services to the new GSA telecommunications contract. This shall involve inventory validation of all existing telecommunication services and potentially the implementation of replacement circuits at all IHS sites.

Scheduled Outages for Network Upgrades Network upgrades and changes shall be performed at a time to minimize the service impact to IHS. For OIT data centers, area offices and hospitals providing 24-hour service, upgrades and changes shall be performed at 12 midnight local time during weekends. The contractor shall support all upgrades with qualified staff at the times required by IHS to minimize service disruption.

Place of Performance The IHS shall not provide office space for the contractor’s staff and onsite support is not required. The contractor shall furnish the necessary facilities for the contractor’s staff to perform the work specified in the PWS.

IHS Site Locations The location of the OIT managed data centers are shown below.

· 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

· This is also the address for IHS headquarters with approximately 500 staff.

· 1011 Indian School Road, Albuquerque, NM 87104.

The URL below provides information on the location of IHS area (regional) sites.

· https://www.ihs.gov/locations/

As many of the IHS sites are located in rural areas, circuit outages and vendor repair times are above industry averages. The contractor shall support all aspects of the repair effort, escalating issues with vendors and keeping customers informed on the status of repair efforts Government Furnished Property To meet security requirements, IHS shall provide laptop computers for the contractor’s staff to use when performing the tasked required in the PWS. The laptop computers shall include a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card reader.

The government shall also provide one router and one telecommunication circuit for connectivity between the IHS network and the contractor’s site.

Access to the HEAT IT Service Management ticketing system is available for the contractor to use to record and report service requests.

Suitability Clearances and Minimum Experience Requirements The contractor shall provide qualified staff, possessing the necessary skills to manage the equipment in the System Environment; and the ability to perform the functions described in the PWS. IHS will address all issues related to task order performance through the Contract Officer.

Successful completion of the tasks specified in the PWS requires a wide range of Information Technology knowledge, skills and abilities. Offerors proposals shall describe how their staffing plans to meet the Government requirements and indicate the number of personnel with the experience and skills described below.

· Network technical specialists with a minimum of 7 years hands-on experience with the specific technologies listed in the System Environment.

· Network technical specialist(s) with a minimum of 10 years’ experience deploying and managing highly available networks in large multi-site enterprise networks with greater than 400 Cisco routers/switches.

· Network specialist(s) with in-depth knowledge of Cisco router and switch products and include at least one specialist certified to CCIE level on Cisco routing and switching products.

· Network specialist(s) with in-depth knowledge of Cisco security products and include at least one specialist with CCIE security certification.

· Network specialist(s) with in-depth knowledge of storage network switches including Fiber Channel and Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). At least one specialist must have attended vendor training on this technology.

· Network specialist(s) with in-depth knowledge of network load balancers and specific knowledge of F5 products, with vendor certifications. At least one specialist must have attended vendor training on this technology.

· Network technical specialist(s) with three or more years’ experience managing telecommunication circuit orders and maintenance issues.

· Network automation specialist with at least 3 years’ experience developing automation to automate network device management and traffic statistics collection. At least 1 years’ experience in the use of the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) API for the programmatic retrieval of information and management of network infrastructure devices.

· Network specialist(s) with experience supporting SIP trunks, VoIP and video teleconferencing.

· Network specialist(s) with knowledge of Active Directory and server virtualization & administration.

The contractor’s proposal shall include information on the skills and experience of the project manager. The project manager shall have:

· Project management training and project management certifications.

· A minimum of three years’ experience implementing IT service management processes.

· A minimum of five years’ experience managing a team of network engineers performing design, implementation and day-to-day support.

· A minimum of two years’ experience managing a 24-hour network operations center.

The contractor shall have a plan on how the staff knowledge and skillsets shall be kept up-to-date during the life of the contract. The contractor’s staff must have the ability to advise IHS on the design of network infrastructure, to meet new network requirements and to enhance the current System Environment. Training and associated costs shall be at the contractor’s expense.

All contractor personnel working on this task order shall have a minimum of a Level 5C Position of Public Trust suitability clearance.

Post Award Conference The Contractor shall meet with the Contract Officer’s Representative (COR) and other Government technical personnel to thoroughly review the requirements of the contract document, contract administration procedures and invoicing requirements. Contractor representatives attending the conference shall consist of a company representative, the Program Director responsible for overall contract administration and all Key Personnel.

Packaging and Marking Packaging All deliverables required under this task order shall be packaged and shipped in accordance with commercial practice so that they are received in immediately usable and acceptable condition.

Payment and Postage Fees All postage and fees related to the submission of information, including forms, reports, etc., to the Contracting Officer, the COR, or the person(s) designated to receive deliverables, shall be the responsibility of the Contractor.

Delivery and Marking All deliverables shall be delivered to the COR and shall be marked as follows:

1. Name and address of the Contractor;

Contract and Task Order Number;

Description of deliverable contained therein; and Consignee’s name and address.

Inspection and Acceptance Inspection and Acceptance The COR, as a duly authorized representative of the Contracting Officer, shall assume the responsibilities for monitoring the Contractor’s performance, evaluating the quality of services provided by the Contractor, and performing final inspection and acceptance of deliverables. The Inspection and Acceptance term for the contract is FOB DESTINATION.

Period of Performance The period of performance is a base period of twelve months with four, twelve month option periods. The Government may exercise options to extend the period of performance in accordance with FAR Clause 52.217-9 – Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (MAR 2000); upon written notification by the Contracting Officer within 30 days of contract expiration.

The period of performance shall be as follows:

Phase-In/Phase-Out Period Phase-In and Phase-Out Provisions The Contractor shall provide a phase-in/phase-out plan describing actions, plans and procedures to ensure (1) a smooth transition from contract award to full operational status and (2) a smooth transition from contract performance in the current term to performance, perhaps by a different contractor, in another term. The initial plan shall be submitted as part of the proposal. The final plan shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer for review and approval 30 days prior to the operations start date. The final phase-out portion of the plan shall be updated 30 days prior to completion of the contract. The phase-out portion shall include provisions for completion of appropriate Contractor responsibilities should there be a contract termination proceeding. Phase in and phase out provisions shall be included in the firm fixed price portion of this contract.

Phase-In

The Contractor shall assume total responsibility for all operations required by the contract as of the Operations Start Date. Therefore, as of the Operations Start Date, the Contractor shall provide a work force that is fully qualified and capable of performing all work required under this contract. The Contractor shall submit in the plan identified in 14.1 above, the detailed procedures for assuming responsibility and accountability for all Government-furnished property.

Phase-In Observation Beginning 30 calendar days through immediately prior to the operations start date, the Contractor will be required to observe daily operations of the Government and incumbent contractor to include office functions, procedures and operations; repair/maintenance operations; and any other operations deemed necessary by the Contractor that will enable his personnel to become both knowledgeable in, and familiar with, their assigned areas of responsibility. The Contractor shall ensure, during phase-in activities, that: he/she shall not interfere with productivity; he/she shall coordinate all visits in advance and arrange to be accompanied by a Government employee previously designated for that purpose; he/she shall confine his activities to those which can only take place prior to the contract period. The designated Government representative shall coordinate discussions with Government or Contractor’s employees while they are on duty. During this phase-in period, the Contractor has no responsibility for on-site operational services required in this contract. No payments will be made to the contractor prior to the operations start date.

Phase-Out Period The Contractor shall present a detailed plan for any phase-out period, regardless of precipitating reasons. The plan shall include procedures for minimizing impact on performance in compliance with standards in the contract. The plan shall also describe in detail how responsibility and accountability will be relinquished for all Government-furnished items/property.

Phase-Out Observation

During the "phase-out" period the Contractor will remain totally responsible for the services required in this contract. The Contractor shall not defer any needed tasks for the purpose of avoiding responsibility to the successor contractor.

Contractor Coordination

The Contractor shall coordinate phase in/out activities with the incoming Contractor to effect a smooth and orderly transition at the end of the contract period. The Contractor shall remove all Contractor-owned equipment, tools, parts and belongings from the Government-furnished facilities by midnight on the last day of the contract. The Contractor shall provide on-the-job familiarization for the incoming Contractor, as required.

Costs

The phase-in/phase-out stipulations contained herein are considered as part and parcel to this contract and the performance period. All such costs are the Contractor's responsibility and shall be included in the firm-fixed-priced portion of this contract.

Deliverables Project Management Plan The contractor shall submit a project management plan for each of the tasks in the PWS. The project plan will be approved by IHS to ensure project expectations and requirements are clearly understood before the start of the work. The project management plan shall be prepared for IHS review and approval no more than 10 days after the task order award.

Quality Control Plan The Contractor shall prepare and adhere to a Quality Control Plan (QCP). The Draft QCP will initially be submitted with the offeror’s proposal and will be updated upon award. The QCP shall document how the Contractor will meet and comply with the quality standards established in this statement of work. At a minimum, the QCP must include a self-inspection plan, and an outline of the procedures that the Contractor will use to maintain quality, timeliness, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction.

Reports The contractor shall provide the following reports.

The monthly activity report should include information on bandwidth upgrades, total service requests total for different service categories, trends related to network issues and actions taken to address recurring problems.

Periodic Meetings The contractor’s project manager shall coordinate periodic meetings and reviews as required to describe how all provisions of the task orders are being met.

Service Level Agreements Within the first three months after contract award, the contractor shall document Service Level Agreements (SLA) for the tasks described in the PWS. The SLAs shall require approval by IHS. The Contractor shall continuous monitor their performance to meet the SLAs and report conformance results on a monthly basis.

Network Documentation The contractor shall maintain accurate, up-to-date network documentation on the IHS Wide Area Network topology and the Local Area Network topology at OIT data centers. This shall include Visio style network diagrams. Documentation shall be updated within five days after implementing topology changes.

Contract Completion Deliverables On task order completion or termination, the contractor shall provide IHS or designated contractor with:

Up-to-date network diagrams and documentation in paper and electronic format.

Network equipment inventory.

Password information for all network devices and network management systems.

Contact information for each IHS site.

Telecommunication circuit inventory with circuit identifiers.

Contact information for logging calls with network equipment vendors and telecommunication providers.

Contact information for logging calls with healthcare partners connected to the IHS network.

Return any government issued hardware or software including original documentation.

License information such as license keys for software which may have been purchased by IHS during the course of the contract.

Any other documentation or contact information used by the contractor in the day-to-day operation of the IHS network.

Administration Data Government Personnel Notwithstanding the Contractor’s responsibility for total management during the performance of this task order, the administration of the task order will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor. The following individuals will be the Government’s points of contact during the performance of this task order: TO BE DETERMINED AFTER CONTRACT AWARD.

Technical Monitoring Performance of the work under this task order shall be subject to the technical monitoring of the COR. The term “Technical Monitoring” is defined to include, without limitation, the following:

Technical directions to the Contractor that redirect the task order effort, shift work emphasis between work areas or assignments, require pursuit of certain lines of inquiry, fill in details or otherwise serve to accomplish the contractual scope of work.

Providing information to the Contractor for assistance in the interpretation of drawings, specifications or technical portions of the work description.

Review and, where required by the task order, approval of technical reports, drawings, specifications and technical information to be delivered by the Contractor to the Government under the task order.

Technical direction must be within the general scope of the work stated in the task order. The COR does not have authority to and may not issue any technical direction which (i) constitutes any assignment of additional work outside the general scope of the task order; (ii) constitutes a change as defined in the contract clause entitled, “Changes”; (iii) in any manner causes an increase in the total contract cost or the time required for contract performance; or (iv) changes any of the expressed terms, conditions, or specifications of the contract.

All technical directions shall be issued in writing by the COR or shall be confirmed in writing with five (5) working days after verbal issuance.

The Contractor shall proceed promptly with the performance of technical directions duly issued by the COR in the manner prescribed within his authority under this provision.

If, in the opinion of the Contractor, any instruction or direction issued by the COR is within one of the categories as defined in (i) through (iv) above, the Contractor shall not proceed, but shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing within five (5) working days after the receipt of any such instruction or direction and shall request the Contracting Officer to modify the task order accordingly. Upon receiving such notification from the Contractor, the Contracting Officer shall issue an appropriate task order modification or advise the Contractor in writing that, in his/her opinion, the technical direction is within the scope of this article and does not constitute a change under the Changes Clause of the contract. The Contractor shall thereupon proceed immediately with the direction given. A failure of the parties to agree upon the nature of the instruction or direction or upon the contract action to be taken with respect thereto shall be subject to the provisions of the contract clause entitled, “Disputes”.

Performance Standards

The Government shall utilize a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) to monitor the performance of the contractor. For each of the tasks in the PWS, the Government’s surveillance plan is shown below. It includes the inspection methods and the acceptable quality levels the Government shall use to evaluator the contractor’s performance.

Network Operations Service Desk

95% of emails requesting support are responded to within two hours. (Not using automated responses).

Network Event and System Monitoring

Perform Network Device Configuration Changes

Design and Implement New Network Technology

Telecommunication Circuits - Adds, Changes and Deletions

Requests for information are answered within 48 hours.

Network Equipment Inventory Management

Voice Services Support

Customer feedback.

User VPN Remote Access

Customers receive after-hours support for Citrix VPN issues.

Ticket inspection.

Customer feedback.

Firewall & Intrusion Detection System Support

Change configuration logs.