5-EED3 Pre-Proposal Conference Questions and Answers 80GSFC20R0026.pdf

80GSFC20R0026

Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

Evolution and Development (EED)-3

Pre-proposal Conferences

June 29, 2020 - July 10, 2020

Questions and Answers

1. Is the Earthdata website the primary repository for insight to current EOSDIS infrastructure, or will you set up a bidder’s library?

A: The EOSDIS EED-3 eLibrary is located at elibrary.gsfc.nasa.gov. The Earthdata website is also a very useful location for information.

2. What are the biggest challenges resulting from increased data volume and processing?

A: One of our challenges is changing user patterns and access methods – persuading users to process in place and use the cloud to compute, instead of just downloading all data. We don’t see egress being an issue; we have mechanisms to manage egress now.

3. Based on these challenges, what would you like to see change between EED-2 and EED-3?

A: We are not a static system. We are responsive to new mission requirements and new user needs.

We expect EED-3 will be completely different from EED-2. Cloud is one technology. There may be other new technologies in the coming years. We need to be ready.

4. Size of datasets is a driver to go to commercial cloud. What is the appetite for innovative solutions? Are you seeing room for improvement with DevOps (tools and practices for rapid delivery of development to operations), or higher degree fidelity volume, higher service? Where is there room for improved performance, innovation, and evolution of what you want to do?

A: There is so much that we want to do. There are still tech issues we need to be aware of. Backups and storage technologies coming down the road that might be affordable. We have to be very agile and capable of making changes. DevOps will help us meet those tech challenges. Software technologies for machine learning, etc. need to be infused. Technology infusion could be better.

Making data manageable for scientists is a challenge. Interoperability is another area we’re always trying to enhance, interoperability with users/user systems, with other systems (e.g. other sites or agencies).

5. Will there be a change imposed by the new cloud governance model from the Office of the Chief

Information Officer (OCIO) office?

A: Headquarters recently approved Microsoft Azure, but we don’t necessarily just start using it. We don’t see anything at NASA Enterprise Managed Cloud Computing (EMCC) affecting how we work or conduct business. The cloud governance model addresses procurement activities, not so much DevOps or how we would organize EOSDIS on the cloud.

6. With so many users, how do you feel governance is working when it comes to creating new tools, getting user feedback, and being responsive to the user community?

A: We have recurring User Needs Technical Interchange meetings to address feedback. Having many users is a challenge, but one that we are nimble enough to react to. New entities are always levying requirements. It is an area where there is a need for innovation. We rely on our

Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and Science Investigator-led Processing Systems

(SIPSs) as a conduit for feedback.

7. Comparing the EED-2 RFP to the EED-3 DRFP, we are excited and appreciate the change:

utilizing scenarios instead of RTOs to evaluate contractor proposals. What has been the feedback and are vendors able to propose quickly?

A: The feedback on the DRFP and the inclusion of scenarios has been positive. We hope that we are providing vendors with enough time to respond to the solicitation. We encourage competition to the fullest extent possible. We’ve posted the DRFP for 30 days and the proposal response time for the RFP will be 30 days.

8. How do you view non-NASA qualifications in Past Performance? Our recommendation is to make sure wording allows vendors to demonstrate other efforts.

A: Our intention is to ensure evaluation criteria are not overly restrictive, narrow, and detailed so that all relevant experience can be evaluated.

9. Was feedback received on the DRFP and will there be significant changes reflected in the Final

RFP?

A: We received questions, comments, and positive feedback in response to the DRFP. There will be minor changes made and reflected in the Final RFP. For example, we plan on clarifying proposal instructions and we may tweak the Notice of Potential OCIs provision.

10. Have you made progress with answering questions received in response to the DRFP?

A: We’ve made progress in answering all questions received in response to the DRFP. Answers will posted on beta.SAM.gov in the coming weeks.

11. How will COVID-19 impact the acquisition schedule?

A: We aren’t experiencing significant impacts. The release of the Final RFP may shift several weeks, to late August.

12. Is the potential OCI included in the DRFP (section L.11) only an example? Is there a reason for the inclusion of that particular OCI?

A: The ESDIS project identified a potential OCI falling within the category of Unequal Access to

Information. We are reviewing to see whether we have identified potential OCIs falling in the

Biased Ground Rules and Impaired Objectivity categories.

13. What consideration has been given to the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on contract performance? Any consideration on whether remote work may be long-term?

A: GSFC continues to consider the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on contract performance;

however, no firm guidance has been given at this time. ESDIS has seen no appreciable reduction in performance across all contracts; data distribution has actually increased. There has not been a decision yet on whether remote work will be long-term.

14. Due to the remote work environment, it’s harder now to onboard new people. Any thoughts on talent management, acquisition, skill mix, risk in this area? Will there be changes to the skills that you look for to mitigate risk in this area?

A: We are always seeking to hire staff with cloud expertise. On EED-3, there is no requirement that the contractor has to be onsite.

15. Will there be other data classifications beyond Sensitive But Unclassified and will the EED-3 contractor require a facility security clearance?

A: The data being processed, archived and distributed from systems operating under EED-3 are not classified and a FCL is not required.

16. Does ARES interact with your EOSDIS system?

A: If they are part of SIPSs, then yes. We are not sure if that’s the case though. We have about 14

SIPS who are the data producers and they send data to the DAACs.

17. Does EOSDIS work with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)?

A: Yes. We make some of the USGS data available in our system. When some of their data

(Landsat) weren’t free, we use to have to charge. But now data are free.

18. NASA’s Earth Science Open Source policy doesn’t apply to Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and Government Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) software/hardware, right?

A: Correct.

19. In regards to the continuous integration of new technologies, what direction, besides the cloud, is

ESDIS pushing toward?

A: ESDIS works technology infusion with various working groups, via competitive programs run out of HQ. The biggest technology infusion effort is currently cloud migration.

20. In regards to the duties required of the EED-3 contractor (e.g. system modifications and upgrades; hardware and software development) what is the majority of the work?

A: The current focus is prioritizing dataset migration based on user need, this drives our approach, we are beholden to the science community when we make decisions.

21. What is the current system used in-house?

A: Today we are using Amazon Web Services (AWS) as our service provider. The OCIO sets the policy for what cloud technology we are able to use; there are only two service providers available right now, AWS and Microsoft Azure (recently). We’re always evaluating new technologies

22. Is it true that a support contractor may have to provide multiple technology solutions?

A: There is no one-size-fits-all approach across the system itself. EED-3 is separate from our

DAACs and SIPSs contracts; however, EED-3 must work with and integrate with our DAACs and SIPSs.

23. Will the EED-3 contractor act as a rover, having to work with teams and the science community to provide system modifications? Working, modifying and adjusting different parts of the system wherever there is a need? There are a lot of different areas of the system that need to be maintained.

A: Evolution and development has no end date. The EOSDIS must support missions as long as missions are being launched.

24. The ESDIS Metric System, is it in EED-3?

A: EMS may be included in EED-3.

25. Process Improvements, are these things that you have accomplished or are these items that are still important to you?

A: These are things that we have accomplished.

26. Is there an Authority to Operate (ATO) for each app?

A: No. We have an ATO for our cloud activities, and an ATO for our on-prem systems at Goddard.

Langley has an ATO for the systems that EED-2 puts in that location, and so on.

27. Are you using Interface Control Document (ICD) process to help get Authority to Operate (ATO) approvals?

A: We follow agency security policies and use agency authorized security tools managed at Johnson and Kennedy.

28. Is it a challenge/issue that it takes forever to maintain/obtain your ATOs?

A: Security is our number one concern.

29. NISAR and SWOT are moving to the cloud. Getting data to the cloud is cheap, getting data out of the cloud is expensive. What is the intent or thought on egress costs? Do you have policies on who pays? Will end-users be required to pay for extraction?

A: There is no cost to the end-user. We are committed to providing our end-users with the same level of service in the cloud as we do on-prem, the end-user may not even notice a difference.

30. Have you all done modeling on anticipated volumes of data egressed from the cloud?

A: We sure have. We have collected usage metrics from the 1990s. We collect metrics from downloads of data from each of the DAACs that tell us what the users acquired, how big, and from where. From these metrics, we can derive a three year trend and we can make projections.

Once we are in the cloud they will be a slew of new metrics we can analyze.

31. What about developers who are developing applications that use NASA data, will you provide tools or infrastructure so that they can pull data out of the cloud?

A: Yes. An example is the Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Another reason for the Open

Source Policy. We encourage this capability. Definitely a community that we pay attention to.

32. You provide Application Programing Interfaces(APIs), do you guys also provide bindings?

A: We provide APIs and value added services if needed. We don’t have specific details, at this time, on which bindings are provided. For example, EED-2 is responsible for maintaining a general

API for CMR and for ensuring that CMR is operational. Any user can use this API and be sure that they are getting good quality metadata from CMR.

33. Are you looking to provide tools and infrastructure in the clouds, sandboxes, for developers who want to develop apps in the cloud?

A: Yes; we do provide sandboxes for our DAACs. We do not provide sandboxes to other end users.

CMR is a good example of something that others have created applications that leverage CMR.

34. Are you interested in, or receptive to, having contractors provide Service Level Agreements?

A: This is something that we have and will continue to consider.

35. As ESDIS moves to a multi-Cloud Service Provider, are you expecting changes in the governance of the EED-3 contractor, the service provider, and the cloud broker (NASA OCIO).

A: We don’t foresee any changes that would impact the governance of the EED-3 contractor, the service provider, and the cloud broker.

36. Does ESDIS expect to change the current network architecture, particularly the science support network, because of upcoming changes such as Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) v3?

A: Networks are developed by other organizations. ESDIS does not have much influence on network architecture changes.

37. Where is ESDIS at in terms of monitoring and controlling egress charges? What is the high-level strategy for NASA?

A: ESDIS has always collected and analyzed metrics for our DAACs , this is a capability that we are building in our EarthData Cloud. We are working with NOAA and USGS, as part of a strategic working group, to address egress control.

38. What are the largest challenges to meeting future ESDIS objectives?

A: The biggest problems are finding and retaining commercial cloud savvy engineers to keep this evolution going. Our cloud challenges: cloud vendor lock-in, and setting the success criteria beyond just getting data out of the cloud but also enabling users to better use data in the cloud.

39. Once the Agency approves other cloud vendors (e.g. Microsoft Azure, Google), will ESDIS be mandated to use these other vendors?

A: The Agency does not force ESDIS to adopt any of the cloud vendors that are onboarded. ESDIS makes its own assessments.