Combined_Synopsis_Solicitation_1625DC-19-Q-00027_Mainframe.docx

1625DC-19-Q-00027

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the Subpart 12.6 and as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. This requirement will result in an award of a firm-fixed-price contract. This is a 100% Total Small Business Set aside under North American Industrial Classification System Code (NAICS) 518210 - Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services with the small business size standard of $32.5 million. 1625DC-19-Q-00027 is the Request for Quotation (RFQ).

REQUIREMENT: The Contractor shall provide an off premise mainframe (Enterprise Server) processing environment that supports interactive and batch processing. Examples of interactive processes in use by BLS are TSO, CICS, and various utilities available under Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF). Batch jobs are submitted as part of the interactive process or via a scheduler. Batch jobs are also submitted from local BLS users. Users of this environment are located in the national office in Washington, DC, regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City/Dallas, and San Francisco, as well as various state offices in thirty-seven (37) states around the United States including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Users can submit jobs from any site on the BLS network, and output can be routed to one or more designated sites using Job Entry Subsystem (JES) and Virtual Printer System (VPS). See the Performance Work Statement below and Attachment A – Pricing Sheet for details.

The Period of Performance will be from 11 September 2019 through 10 September 2020, to include 2 option periods ending 10 September 2022.

The Government will award a Firm-Fixed-Price purchase-order resulting from this solicitation to the vendor whose quotation conforms to the solicitation and represents the best value to the government. Evaluations will be performed in accordance with 52.212-2 -- Evaluation -- Commercial Items and additional criteria in the attached RFQ. The offeror will be evaluated in accordance with the following factors, (1) Benchmark; (2) Technical; and (3) Price. Quotes are due no later than July 18, 2019, 1300 hours EST. BLS requests that vendors submit a quote with the price of each item listed with pricing at or better than offered to the most favored customer. In accordance with 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors, paragraph (f), quotes received after the established closing date will be viewed as late, and therefore not considered. Contractors must follow the instructions including 52.212-1 and the supplemental instructions. Contractors can either fill provision 52.212-3 – Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, or reference the certification in the System for Award Management System (SAM). Clause 52.212-4 - Contract Terms and Conditions, applies to this solicitation.

All questions and submissions must be submitted electronically to portillo.jessica@bls.gov and fontaine.gary@bls.gov. See section L of this RFQ for further instructions. Quotes shall be good for 90 calendar days from the date of submission.

Table of Contents

B - Supplies or Services/Prices The contractor will use the attached table, titled Schedule of Pricing, Attachment A, to identify all pricing proposed for this requirement. The price proposal shall separately identify pricing for the base plus two (2) option period and a six (6) month extension.

C - Description/Specifications Performance Work Schedule

INTRODUCTION

The contractor shall provide mainframe computer services in support of administrative, statistical, developmental, and production applications for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These services consist of, but are not limited to: providing batch and interactive processing; remote printing; data storage and maintenance; security; communications support; production monitoring; technical assistance to include help desk support by phone; Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) compliance; phase-in and phase-out operations.

BACKGROUND

BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. BLS is a national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, businesses, and labor markets.

BLS is organized by programs correlating to the economic statistics produced. Each program has its own Information Technology (IT) budget and requirements, and they function independently of each other. Each program has rigid deadlines for processing that cannot be delayed because of system failure or unavailability. All BLS systems supported by this contract have a Federal security categorization level of moderate based on requirements established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

BLS has historically used a mainframe service center to support a variety of data processing requirements. In recent years, most of that processing has migrated to UNIX and/or Windows systems. One BLS program, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, continues to use mainframe processing for some of its data processing.

Following are descriptions of the BLS program and support offices that will be using the services provided in this contract:

1. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program produces a comprehensive series of employment and wage data for workers covered by State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and is a virtual census of payroll employment. The program produces data on establishments, monthly employment, and quarterly wages by industry, county, and ownership.

The QCEW program, continues to use mainframe processing for some of its data processing. QCEW is expected to continue with a mainframe workload similar to its recent usage while it develops a replacement system on another platform. The date the replacement system will reach Full Operational Capability (FOC) has not yet been determined.

The QCEW program is a Federal/State cooperative program, with the cooperating state agencies (50 states, D.C, and two territories) performing most of the data collection and editing, and performing aggregation and analysis of data for their own states and areas. The state-edited data are accessed by the BLS National Office to produce and publish data at the national, state, and county levels, as well as for other areas. At the state level, the activities begin with input files created by state UI agencies. These files are processed by one of two purpose-built systems. The mainframe system, known collectively as EXPO, is used by 39 of the agencies, 37 of whom use it at the BLS contracted service center, and 2 of whom use it on state operated mainframes. The remaining 14 agencies use a PC and network based system to perform the similar function.

The EXPO system uses a combination of batch processing and a Customer Information Control System (CICS) started task to meet the program’s needs. Time Sharing Option (TSO) sessions are used for variety of purposes, including, but not limited to: job submission, job monitoring, print routing, file transmission, and source code and system maintenance. The EXPO system uses a variety of standard z/OS utilities, and the program specific code for both the batch jobs and the CICS system is COBOL – typically the most current and widely available version, but only using widely available language features so that the system can be used at both the service center facility and those used by the three states that run it separately.

Currently, almost all data enters or leaves the EXPO hosting service center via FTP file transmission. Occasionally, files may be sent in by tape cartridge (via common carrier – FedEx, UPS, etc.). The states upload and/or read the UI system provided files, edit and analyze them via EXPO batch and interactive sessions, and make files available for downloading to BLS users and for other purposes as needed by the states.

2. Office of Field Operations The Office of Field Operations (OFO) has six regional offices at eight sites that coordinate data collection activities for BLS. For BLS Federal/State programs, such as QCEW, OFO coordinates and oversees cooperating state activities. They have full connections to the BLS LAN, and through it, access to the mainframe service center.

3. Division of Technology and Network Management The Division of Technology and Network Management (DTNM) is responsible for telecommunications from the Postal Square Building (PSB) in Washington, D.C., to the mainframe facility redundant server location, including lines, related equipment, and services. The PSB is the primary location for BLS.

4. Division of Technology Measurement and Strategic Initiatives The Division of Technology Measurement and Strategic Initiatives (DTMSI) is responsible for providing the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Bureau Security Officer (BSO) for the contract. The COR role is comprised of providing general user support, processing monthly invoices, funding the contract, and assuring contract compliance. The BSO role involves reviewing daily security logs, maintaining user IDs and authorities, and approving transfer of data ownership.

TYPES OF PROCESSING

The Contractor shall provide a mainframe (Enterprise Server) processing environment that supports interactive and batch processing. Examples of interactive processes in use by BLS are TSO, CICS, and various utilities available under Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF). Batch jobs are submitted as part of the interactive process or via a scheduler. Batch jobs are also submitted from local BLS users.

Users of this environment are located in the national office in Washington, DC, regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City/Dallas, and San Francisco, as well as various state offices in thirty-seven (37) states around the United States including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Users can submit jobs from any site on the BLS network, and output can be routed to one or more designated sites using Job Entry Subsystem (JES) and Virtual Printer System (VPS).

MANDATORY FACILITIES SUPPORT

1. Contractor Support Center The Enterprise Server Facility shall be located somewhere in the forty-eight (48) contiguous states of the United States. The facility must comply with NIST SP800-171 which is the mandatory requirement for federal agencies with security requirements for protecting the confidentiality of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) when the CUI is resident in a nonfederal system and organization.

2. Hours of Operation The Enterprise Server Facility shall be available for processing twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week, except for regularly scheduled maintenance. The current scheduled maintenance window occurs Sunday morning between 12 A.M. and 12 P.M. ET. This window has worked well with our production. The Government requires the option, with twenty-four (24) hours’ notice, to schedule processing during the contractor’s scheduled maintenance periods.

REQUIREMENTS

Following are the mandatory requirements of the contract:

A. ENTERPRISE SERVER

BLS is currently well serviced by the processing capabilities of an IBM z13s Enterprise Server. The Contractor shall provide a logical partition (LPAR) on the Enterprise Server with a capacity of at least fifty (50) Million Instructions Per Second (MIPS) with the ability to expand if further MIPS are needed to maintain an acceptable level of performance.

Server size affects software licensing. Therefore, the Contractor must consider cost implications to BLS when planning the enterprise server configuration. During the life of the contract, the Contractor shall obtain permission from the COR before moving BLS services to another enterprise server so that changes in product licenses or other potential issues are addressed prior to the change.

The Contractor shall provide all hardware and software that is necessary to support the BLS’ processing and communications within the Contractor’s facility. The license fee must be rolled into the cost of the service itself as this will not be a cost reimbursable contract.

BLS users shall have the same processing capabilities as any other user attached to the same enterprise server in the same LPAR.

B. DIRECT ACCESS STORAGE DEVICES (DASD)

The Contractor shall supply, in adequate quantities, online direct access storage that has a minimum capability and storage characteristics of IBM 3390-3 or equivalent. This online storage shall consist of four (4) usage categories: public, dedicated, work, and System Direct Access (SYSDA). All types except dedicated shall be managed under IBM’s Data Facility Hierarchical Storage Manager (DFHSM).

The Contractor may propose newer models of DASD over the life of the contract. The price for the new DASD models shall be negotiated between BLS and the Contractor before being made available.

1. Dedicated (Private) DASD The Contractor shall provide dedicated volumes that will be rented by individual BLS groups. At the renting group’s option, the Contractor shall place private volumes under DFHSM, so that datasets that have not been used in an agreed upon time period may be migrated.

BLS offices renting dedicated DASD shall be responsible for backing up their volumes. The Contractor shall provide the option of a back-up service with the same schedule as specified for public and off-site (vaulted) storage.

At the renting group’s option, the Contractor shall reorganize the space on dedicated volumes by reducing the fragmentation on a volume and increasing the size of the free space extents. This defragging service shall be provided as a separately priced item.

2. Public DASD The Contractor shall provide public volumes on which BLS can store datasets. There shall be no restrictions on the minimum or maximum size of a dataset that is placed on public storage. The average monthly storage capacity is 39,268,913 track days. Datasets on public storage are considered permanent until scratched by the user.

The Contractor shall provide sufficient public DASD storage so that the equivalent of approximately thirty three percent (33%) of the space on the public storage volumes available to BLS is free space. Furthermore, the Contractor shall provide for at least one extent of fifteen hundred (1500) cylinders of free space available at all times for BLS use.

The goal of this requirement is to have sufficient public storage to meet the varying needs of BLS programs. This requirement is specified as proportional to BLS usage. Were usage to expand greatly, the Contractor would be expected to expand available free space. Likewise, if usage were to decrease, the Contractor would be able to reduce the free space.

Data on public storage shall be backed up daily, weekly, and quarterly. The daily backup may be incremental, but all other backups shall be full-volume.

Daily and weekly backups shall be kept for a minimum of ninety (90) days and quarterly backups shall be retained indefinitely.

Datasets that are not referenced for thirty (30) days or more shall be migrated to tape or virtual tape. These migrated datasets shall be automatically retrieved to public storage when referenced. Datasets migrated from public storage shall be retained for a minimum of three (3) years. Migrated datasets shall not be deleted without BLS approval.

3. Work DASD The Contractor shall provide work volumes where datasets that are stored are automatically scratched between forty eight (48) and seventy two (72) hours after creation.

The Contractor shall provide a minimum of five (5) work volumes.

4. SYSDA

The Contractor shall not place any artificial maximum of permissible space available for storage of temporary datasets that are created during the execution of batch jobs.

The Contractor shall have the equivalent of two (2) 3390-3 volumes with at least one extent of contiguous fifteen hundred (1500) cylinders of free space available at all times to accommodate BLS processing.

Table 1: Estimated DASD and Tape Storage over the Life of the Contract

Based on usage from December 2017 to November 2018

C. AUXILIARY MEDIA STORAGE

The Contractor shall provide the facilities for reading from, writing to, and storing data on magnetic tapes and cartridges, hereafter referred to as tapes.

1. Tape Drives The Contractor shall provide tape drives to process the following types of magnetic tapes:

1. 3480 cartridge

2. 3490 cartridge

3. 3490E cartridge

4. 3590 cartridge

The Contractor shall provide sufficient tape drives to process three (3) cartridges simultaneously in one job.

2. Tapes The Contractor may propose other newer types of magnetic tape over the life of the contract for BLS approval. The Government reserves the right to supply any and all magnetic tapes. These tapes shall be stored in the contractor’s tape library facility. If the if government decides to purchase its own tapes the vendor will not inflate the rate. The vendor must charge the government a rate commensurate with the average industry standard for this type of purchase.

At the user’s request, the Contractor shall initialize tapes.

Users shall be notified seven (7) days before a tape is due to expire. Tapes shall not be released to the scratch pool until ten (10) days after the expiration date. Tapes shall be degaussed prior to release to the scratch pool.

3. Virtual Tape Services The Contractor shall make Virtual Tape services available for tapes that will not be removed from the Enterprise Server Facility.

4. Tape Library The Contractor shall maintain a library facility for the storage and maintenance of magnetic tapes, cartridges, and compact disks. The library facility shall automatically inspect and certify all media to ensure that they are free of defects and are properly labeled.

The Contractor shall have tapes that are sent to the Contractor’s facility available for use in jobs within two (2) hours of their arrival at the Contractor’s facility. Requests to remove tapes from the Tape Library shall be acted upon within twenty four (24) hours after receiving the request.

5. Tape Management System The Contractor shall provide a tape management system that includes:

a. Ability to control tapes through the system catalog. Tapes will only be released when un-catalogued.

b. Automatic release of tapes when the retention date is exceeded after notice is given to the tape owner.

c. System validation that the correct tape is mounted.

d. Automatic control of cycled historical data tapes that releases the oldest tape when the maximum number of historical cycles is exceeded.

e. Control forms and receipts for movement of BLS tapes to and from the Contractor’s tape library.

f. The ability to remove tapes assigned to their id from the tape library by telephone, E-mail, or TSO requests.

D. PRINTING

1. General BLS users can generate printed output through the mechanism detailed below. Print is output to BLS LAN-connected TCP/IP printers in BLS and state offices.

a. BLS Remote Printers BLS users in all locations use both interactive and batch jobs to generate “cut sheet” printed output at printers connected to the BLS LAN. At the user’s option, print output may be placed in an Output Queue so it can be viewed before it is printed, transmitted, or purged. Their interfaces allow them to designate the printer/location to be used. This printed output is routed from the Enterprise server by the VPS Enterprise Output Server product. There shall be no printing charge for using these printers since the Government owns the equipment and pays for the communication lines, paper, print supplies, and operators. BLS may replace these printers during the life of the contact.

b. Remote Printer Identification The Contractor shall establish remote printer identification numbers for BLS printers in the Washington DC area, as well as each BLS Regional Office, all States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These printers shall be defined in VPS and given unique names. In addition, these remote names are to be used in Job Control Language including the /*ROUTE JES2 control statement from batch jobs and started tasks.

E. SOFTWARE

1. Contractor Supplied Software When new releases of software are available, the Contractor shall notify BLS at least thirty (30) working days prior to the implementation of the new release. Because of critical production schedules, older releases of software must remain available until BLS is assured that its processing is unaffected by the upgrade. Removal of older software releases from BLS use shall only be done with the approval of the COR.

When core operating system software, including products such as DFSMS, TSO, and SDSF, are upgraded, and it is not possible for the older release to remain available, the Contractor shall provide testing periods. The new release shall replace the current release only if it does not negatively affect BLS processing.

BLS will incur no surcharges for the execution of any Contractor-supplied software. The Contractor shall provide all hardware and software that is necessary to support the BLS’ processing and communications within the Contractor’s facility. The license fee must be rolled into the cost of the service itself as this will not be a cost reimbursable contract.

a. Core IBM Software

The Contractor shall provide the current release of IBM z/OS with the following features:

1. The ability to store at least five hundred (500) BLS input job streams in a queue awaiting execution

2. The ability to restart jobs

3. The ability to store up to nine hundred (900) completed BLS jobs in an output queue awaiting printer availability

4. SVCs, as required, to support software products licensed to BLS

5. The ability to execute jobs held in a queue on a pre-assigned basis

6. The ability to submit jobs using the internal reader

The Contractor shall supply the following software for the use of BLS. The current vendor supported releases shall be supplied except where specific releases are identified.

7. JES2/NJE, Job entry/output system

8. DFSMS, Storage Management Subsystem

9. DFHSM, Hierarchical Storage Manager

10. CICS, Customer Information Control System

11. Transaction Server (CICS)

12. TSO Extended including

ISPF

SDSF

REXX

13. At BLS’ option, the Contractor shall provide a warning facility to advise BLS users when their TSO sessions have used a specified number of CPU seconds. The CPU warning shall be repeated each time the BLS user utilizes the specified number of CPU seconds.

15. The Contractor shall provide a facility to limit the number of CPU time a CICS transaction may incur at a level that is specified by BLS. This value may be the same for all BLS users. If this condition is reached, the transaction shall be automatically terminated and the COR and user notified immediately.

16. IBM Sort/Merge

17. IBM Utilities including AMASPZAP

18. IBM TCP/IP

19. Resource Access Control Facility (RACF)

b. Language Compilers

The Contractor shall provide the current release of the following compilers. If an older release is specified the Contractor shall provide the specified older release.

1. COBOL

2. z/OS Link Editor

3. Assembler

i. High Level Assembler for MVS and VM

1. c. Other Vendor Products

The Contractor shall provide the following products:

1. IOF Interactive Output Facility from Fischer Interactive Systems Corp.

2. VPS from Levi, Ray, & Shoup, Inc.

3. VPS/TCPIP

4. Dynamic Report System (VPS/DRS)

5. ABEND-AID from Compuware Corporation

6. FILEAID from Compuware Corporation

7. CA-DADS from Computer Associates, Inc.

8. SYNCSORT from Syncsort, Inc.

9. IBM Debugger Tool

10. AnyQueue

11. Tape Identification Utility. The Contractor shall provide a utility that will identify all characteristics of a tape such as density, labels, tape marks, datasets, record lengths, and block sizes. This utility shall require as input only an external user-created volume-serial number.

12. Tape Listing Utility. The Contractor shall provide a utility that will list all of the tapes belonging to an individual or an account. For each tape, it will include the datasets (labels), the creation date/time, and the tape owner for each tape.

13. DASD Utility. The Contractor shall provide a utility that lists the volume table of contents (VTOC) information and addresses of datasets on dedicated (private) BLS DASD.

14. Dataset List Utility. The Contractor shall provide a utility that provides information about stored datasets on a private volume. The following minimum information shall be provided for each dataset on the volume: dataset name, date created, date last referenced, dataset organization, record format, record length, block size, dataset type, tracks allocated, tracks used, and number of extents. The listing should have an option to present the datasets sorted in ascending order alphabetically by dataset name.

2. BLS Licensed Software BLS shall have the right to obtain compatible software products for installation at the Contractor’s facility. BLS reserves the right to install, maintain, and support any owned or leased software. At the government’s request, the contractor shall provide a list of all government owned software.

If BLS requires installation of BLS licensed software, the Contractor shall provide an environment that provides at a minimum:

a. The ability to have SVCs installed, as required

b. APF authorized libraries

c. The ability to generate System Management Facility (SMF) data

d. The ability to interface with RACF

e. The ability to generate operator commands on an ad hoc basis that include, but are not limited to, task initiation and termination

F. USER IDS AND ACCOUNTS

The Contractor shall provide user ID and accounting features as follows:

1. User IDs BLS Users access the system using a six (6) character user ID that consists of a three character (3) group identification followed by three characters that identify the user. Both parts of the user ID use a combination of letters and numbers. To minimize the impact of transition and avoid conversion costs, BLS will keep its current user ID structure.

2. Accounts BLS uses a four (4) character accounting code that consists of the letter “A” followed by three (3) numbers. An example would be A152. To minimize the impact of transition and avoid conversion costs, BLS will keep its current account structure.

3. User ID and Account Maintenance The BLS COR is responsible for selecting the user IDs and accounts that are used by BLS. The Contractor shall add, modify, and delete BLS user IDs and accounts to the RACF database as the COR requests.

G. JOB CONTROL LANGUAGE (JCL), AND PRIORITIES

1. Priorities The Contractor shall provide a batch job priority scheme based on the maximum time for job initiation. The waiting time shall depend upon the availability of system resources without regard to an artificial minimum waiting time for job to begin execution.

All of the times specified below are Eastern Time (ET).

Following are the required priorities and the maximum times for job initiation:

a. The Class 5 jobs must be submitted after 6:00 PM ET. Class 5 jobs move to the head of the queue. BLS users who are working after 6:00 PM ET and wish quick turnaround should use this priority.

b. The Class 6 jobs that are submitted before 6:00 PM Monday through Friday must begin to execute after the next 6:00 PM ET, but before the next 7:00 AM ET. The Class 6 jobs that are submitted after 6:00 PM ET Monday through Friday must begin to execute before the next 7:00 AM ET.

c. The Class 7 jobs that are submitted before 6:00 PM ET Friday must begin to execute after 6:00 PM ET Friday, but before 7:00 AM ET on Monday. The Class 7 jobs that are submitted after 6:00 PM ET Friday must begin to execute before 7:00 AM ET on Monday.

d. The Class 8 jobs that are submitted before 10:00 PM ET Monday through Friday must begin to execute after the next 10:00 PM ET, but before the next 7:00 AM ET. The Class 8 jobs that are submitted after 10:00 PM ET Monday through Friday must begin to execute before the next 7:00 AM ET.

e. The Class 9 jobs that are submitted before 12:00 AM ET Monday through Friday must begin to execute after the next 12:00 AM ET, but before the next 7:00 AM ET. The Class 9 jobs that are submitted after 12:00 AM ET Monday through Friday must begin to execute before the next 7:00 AM ET.

BLS shall have the option of running jobs on a fixed repetitive schedule.

2. JCL Job Card Formats The Contractor shall support two JCL job card formats: the standard IBM format and the BLS format described below.

a. BLS Formatted JCL Job Card

Following is the format for the BLS JCL job card and description of the components:

//Yuuuuuxx JOB (ED,Aaaa,,,bin,,,lc,,fm,cp,log,lcp),name

3. PROCLIB Statement The Contractor shall provide a facility that will translate PROCLIB statements to JCLLIB statements.

4. /* JES2 Statements The Contractor shall continue to allow the /*AFTER, /*NOTIFY, /*CNTRL, /*ROUTE, and /*OUTPUT JES2 statements to be used as long as they continue to work. If they stop working due to software changes, the Contractor shall work with BLS to replace the functionality with other software solutions.

Although IBM ceased to support the /*AFTER statements with the implementation of OS/390 Release 2.10, they have continued to work. BLS relies on them for production to control the order of jobs and to avoid resource contention. If they stop working, an alternative shall be provided.

H. SECURITY

BLS requires a secure environment to protect the confidentiality and integrity of its data. The Contractor’s environment must comply with BLS security policies.

1. User IDs and Passwords Each BLS-authorized user shall have a unique user ID for accessing the Contractor’s Enterprise Server. BLS users control and maintain their individual passwords. The BLS Mainframe Security staff, Project Security Officers, and the Contractor’s security staff shall have the ability to change passwords; however, the Contractor’s security staff will not change passwords unless requested by the BLS Mainframe Security staff.

Passwords must have the following characteristics:

a. Expire every sixty (60) days. The user IDs and passwords shall be stored in an encrypted form in the RACF database

b. The password must be at least eight (8) characters in length.

c. The password must contain letters, numbers, and special characters.

d. The only valid special characters are $ and #.

e. Cannot use the same character three or more times consecutively

f. Cannot reuse password for 34 iterations

Fifteen (15) days before a password will expire, the user shall be warned when they logon to the Contractor’s facility that the password will expire in fifteen (15) days. The warning shall be issued each subsequent day for the next fourteen (14) days with the number of days until the password expires.

2. Resource Access Control Facility (RACF) The Contractor shall provide RACF from IBM, Inc. The default shall be to protect all data from access by users other than the data owner or the BLS security officers. All datasets, including tape datasets, and DASD shall be under RACF protection.

BLS shall manage its own security with assistance from the Contractor. The management of RACF profiles and access lists will be managed by BLS security officers.

3. Security Officers Access to data and resources shall be controlled by a hierarchical scheme. The order includes the BLS Mainframe Security Officer and designated backup, Project Security Officers, and users.

Users are divided into groups. User groups can be identified by the first three characters of the user ID followed by three zeros. All users who have user IDs starting with the same first three characters belong to the same group. Each group has a Project Security Officer (PSO) who can create, modify, and delete RACF profiles and change passwords for all users in their group. PSO user IDs have the 3-character group code, followed by the letter “P” and two numbers. The PSO can access any resources belonging to the group and change passwords for anyone in the group.

The BLS Mainframe Security Officer and designated backup have access to all BLS resources and can change passwords for all BLS users.

4. DASD

Each private volume shall belong to one user. That user shall have the option of protecting the volume from unauthorized access, including reading, writing, updating, or allocating datasets on the volume.

5. Tapes By default each tape volume shall be protected from access by users other than the tape owner and BLS security officers. Users shall not be able to circumvent protection of tape data on standard tapes by means of Bypass Label Processing (BLP). A BLS user can only use BLP with their foreign tapes.

The Contractor shall follow DOL procedures for degaussing and disposal. The disposal procedure includes obtaining a certificate of destruction confirming tapes were disposed of according to DOL policy. BLS is prohibited from degaussing. The contractor shall ensure all items requiring degaussing services are coordinated with the BLS property management team and serviced through DOL.

The Contractor shall provide a tape management system that validates that the correct tape is mounted.

6. Batch Jobs Users and BLS security officers shall be able to grant access to jobs. Users should be able to submit, fetch, and purge batch jobs under another user’s userid. They should also be able to examine the output of other users’ jobs and reroute a job from one destination to another or to a printer.

7. Security Logs The Contractor shall produce daily security logs for any security officer that requests them. The following events shall be included in the log:

a. All attempted unauthorized access to BLS datasets or resources or by BLS users to others’ datasets or resources.

b. All accesses to datasets or resources that have been requested by the user or security officer.

c. All use of privileges that override normal security conventions. Each time that the Contractor’s personnel access a BLS dataset or resource, the event should be logged.

All logged accesses or attempted accesses shall appear in the security log of the security group to which the accesses were attempted and/or achieved and in the security log of the security group to which the user attempting access belongs. Minimally, the logs shall contain the following information:

d. The user ID of the user who accessed, or attempted access, to a resource or dataset.

e. The date and time of the access or attempted access.

f. The program or processing mode accessing or attempting access.

g. The access requested and if access is denied, the access actually allowed.

h. The resource or dataset for which access was attempted or achieved. If the resource is a dataset, the volume on which the dataset resides shall be included.

i. The RACF profile that is controlling the access, i.e., allowing or denying it.

j. The default group of the user ID that is accessing or attempting access to the resource.

k. Whether the access is successful.

8. BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements

The Contractor shall comply with all confidentiality and security requirements as set forth in the Attachments in Section G.

I. CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS

To meet the BLS need for continued processing capabilities during natural and/or man-created disasters and interruptions that may occur at the Contractor’s facilities, the contractor will provide backup and recovery plans to address the various scenarios, i.e. network, CPU, DASD, and datacenter outages.

2. UPS and Backup Processor The Contractor shall provide for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will supply power in the event of a commercially supplied power failure. The Contractor shall maintain the UPS according to the manufacturer’s instructions and test it periodically to make sure that it is operating properly.

The Contractor shall provide a backup enterprise server of at least equal capability to the primary processor. In the event of a sustained system failure, this backup shall provide for total system recovery within twenty-four (24) hours of the outage. The use of the backup processor shall be with the concurrence of the BLS’ COR.

3. DASD

The Contractor shall create DASD volume backups of BLS private volumes and BLS datasets on public volumes on a weekly (full), daily (incremental) and quarterly (full) schedule for off-site storage. Backups can be done on portable media or electronically. These files must be maintained in a location that is located at least one hundred (100) miles away from the primary site and that will not be impacted by the same emergency affecting the primary facility. The retention period for weekly, daily, and quarterly backups will be 11 weeks, 7 days, and indefinite, respectively.

4. Contract Facilities Shutdown In the event that the Contractor’s primary site is not available, the alternative site shall be available within twenty four (24) hours for processing BLS systems. The Contractor shall provide a backup site that is located at least one hundred (100) miles away from the primary site. Hardware, software, telecommunications, logistics, and personnel shall be identified to ensure a complete and rapid establishment of the alternative facility. Continuity of services shall be provided during any period of contingency operations. BLS will experience no increased charges during the contingency operations.

The Contractor shall notify the COR ninety (90) days before the designated backup site can be changed. This will allow BLS time to establish communication lines to the new site.

If the emergency response or backup operations are actually invoked, the Contractor shall supply a written account of the disaster. This shall include a discussion of the recovery and noting problems that were encountered including outstanding unresolved problems. The Contractor shall provide a list of datasets on DASD and tape that were unrecoverable. The Contractor shall provide all possible assistance in recovering or recreating any lost or damaged datasets.

5. Optional Annual Continuity of Operations Test BLS reserves the right to participate in any of the contractor’s scheduled continuity of operations tests.

BLS may, at any time during the life of the contract, announce its intention to exercise the option to test the contingency plan. The Government shall have the right to test the plan one month after the announcement.

The test shall begin when the designated BLS official calls the designated Contractor official to signal that an emergency has occurred. The test shall run backup BLS programs and applications and must not interfere with primary processing operations.

The Contractor must submit a written report within twenty one (21) days after completing the test. The report shall provide a complete description of the test including what was successful, what problems were encountered, and what steps will be taken to improve the performance of the emergency plan in the future.

J. COMMUNICATIONS

1. General BLS requires connectivity from BLS sites to the Contractor’s facilities. BLS sites include, but are not limited to, the Postal Square Building at 2 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., the redundant server location, regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City/Dallas, and San Francisco, as well as various state offices in thirty-seven (37) states around the United States including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

BLS is currently responsible for providing the telecommunications lines from BLS sites to the Contractor’s facility. The contractor should note that new and or modified methods of procuring and provisioning circuits and bandwidth in support of the contract shall be considered. BLS may provide equipment at the Contractor’s site when compatibility with the BLS Local Area Network (LAN) is an issue. The Contractor shall provide any additional communication equipment and software that is required for connecting BLS with the Contractor’s facilities.

2. Current Configuration The contractor shall at a minimum provide support for the present circuit configuration which includes:

a. one (1) T-3 or Ethernet line using the TCP/IP protocol from the PSB to the Contractor’s facility

b. one (1) T-1 or Ethernet line from the PSB to the Contractor’s facility to be used as a backup

c. one (1) T-1 or Ethernet line from the BLS redundant server location to the Contractor’s facility

d. one (1) T-1 or Ethernet line from the PSB to the Contractor’s mandated Disaster Recovery facility

Contractor shall plan for and provide a communications methods schematic and geographic description supporting an alternate connection to the BLS to be used to satisfy connection continuity and BLS operations in the case where the Contractor’s normal transmission connections are impacted and not available.

3. Terminal Emulation The Contractor shall provide system access to a secure terminal based on the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol that meets FIPS 140-2 cryptographic standards for authentication through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS). The Contractor shall be capable of, and responsible for, providing support for TCP/IP version 4 and be prepared to adjust as necessary those portions of their network that may need to be modified to support IPv6 within its environment. If not currently able to support IPv6, the Contractor will provide documented plans for a timetable for implementation of any necessary enhancements required for proper functionality in an IPv6 environment, per federal data inter-communication requirements, if needed.

BLS is responsible for providing terminal emulation software on Government-owned computers. The current standard is Attachmate Extra! from Micro Focus but we are planning to transition to Reflection Desktop from the same manufacturer by the award date. The Contractor is responsible for providing compatibility with the BLS standard product.

4. File Transfer Protocol The Contractor shall provide system access to secure file transfer facilities based on the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol that meets FIPS 140-2 cryptographic standards for authentication through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS).

BLS will be responsible for providing Reflection Desktop Secure FTP software on Government-owned computers.

5. Optional File Transfer Support The Contractor may propose an additional or alternate secure file transfer mechanism. The alternative would have to meet applicable cryptographic and security standards.

6. VPS Printer Support The Contractor shall support the Bureau’s use of VPS to route and print jobs from the Contractor’s facility to other BLS sites including Regional and State offices. The Contractor shall procure, install, and support VPS for BLS use.

7. Mandatory Data Communications Support Normal business hours are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday. During normal business hours, the Contractor shall provide, at no direct cost to the Government, technical services for the diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of the Contractor-provided data telecommunication configuration.

In the event of service disruptions, the Contractor shall provide telecommunication services and support and diagnostic and problem solving support as required to resolve the outage twenty four (24) hours, seven (7) days per week.

The Contractor shall notify BLS LAN Support when they detect communications failures that affect BLS. The Contractor shall work with BLS LAN Support to solve communications problems that affect BLS.

K. SHIPPING

BLS may require commercial shipping to deliver media that has been created at the Contractor’s facilities to the PSB and other BLS sites. The Contractor will arrange shipping with a commercial delivery service. This service will be priced separately.

The Contractor is responsible for safeguarding the confidentiality of any BLS products that will be transported. Media that is transported from the Contractor’s facility shall be placed in sealed containers. The commercial service must have a reliable tracking system.

The Contractor shall maintain logs for all BLS products or materials that it receives and dispatches. The logs shall contain the volume serial number of tapes and job numbers from listings and include:

1. Job number

2. User identification

3. Volume serial, if applicable

4. Date that materials were received or dispatched

5. Time that materials were received or dispatched

6. Transportation method

7. Description of products

8. BLS location that dispatched or received the transported materials

The Contractor shall provide the BLS COR these logs on a monthly basis.

L. CONTRACTOR SUPPORT

1. Contractor Point of Contact The Contractor shall provide a Point of Contact (POC) to serve as the liaison between the Contractor and BLS. The POC shall resolve problems that BLS users encounter in dealing with the Contractor’s facility. This shall include, but not be limited to: coordinating the installation of new software, resolving problems with the printing facility, software, security, and coordinating pre-tests of patches or assisting with any other problem that BLS users may encounter using the Contractor’s services.

The POC shall meet on-site at the BLS National Office or via teleconference on request. Participants could be the BLS COR, managers, and staff who use the Contractor’s Facility. These meetings provide a forum for BLS users to ask questions or raise issues with the Contractor. They also provide the Contractor with an opportunity to discuss proposed additions, upgrades, and changes to the Contractor’s facilities.

The POC shall have at least 10 years of experience working in an IBM mainframe environment along with the following experience demonstrated in their resume:

1. z/Architecture and z/OS

2. Leading people or teams

3. Providing project management support

4. Providing support on third party contracts of $500K per year or more

2. Help Desk The Contractor shall provide a Help Desk to solve problems that users encounter when using the Contractor’s facilities. It should also serve as a contact point for obtaining information about the Contractor’s facility including the hardware and software that is installed and how to use it. The Help Desk staff shall have access to systems staff and others who are knowledgeable about the software and hardware with which the BLS users are having problems.

The Help Desk shall be available at a minimum from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Eastern Time seven days per week. The Help Desk shall be accessible from a toll-free telephone number, through E-mail, and a web-based change and problem submission link via secure HTTPS to its online helpdesk system. The Contractor’s Help Desk shall maintain a log of inquiries and problems accessible by authorized submitters and will be cataloged by reference number. Details of all requests are maintained as a record of all interaction between BLS and the Contractor’s support staff relating to problem, issues, and solutions.

Table 2 – Problem Resolution and Request Service Level Requirements

Problem

3. General Technical Support The Contractor shall provide general technical support at no direct cost to the government. The assistance offered at no direct cost to BLS shall include:

a. Technical assistance for problems that are encountered in running fully operational systems. This support shall be available by telephone during all scheduled hours of operation via a toll-free telephone number.

b. Technical assistance for programming or other problems with Contractor-supplied software shall be available between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Eastern time seven days per week except holidays.

4. Subject-Specific Technical Support The Contractor shall have staff that are trained and knowledgeable with the operation of all the hardware, software, and communication systems that are operating at the Contractor’s facility.