A14_MR_RFI_IBC_DM_Archiving-FINAL_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

IBC DATAMART ARCHIVING

February 12, 2025

I. INTRODUCTION:

The U.S. Department of Interior, Interior Business Center (IBC) is seeking information regarding a potential archiving strategy for an Oracle 19c production database linked to the IBC Datamart Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) application.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) to determine available sources and their capabilities to provide the product or service described below and for such other purpose as described below.

This request for information does not constitute a solicitation and is not an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and services discussed in this notice. Submission of a response to this RFI is entirely voluntary. The voluntary submissions of answers to this RFI shall not obligate the Interior Business Center (IBC) to pay or entitle the submitter of information to claim any direct or indirect costs, charges, or other compensation whatsoever.

For clarification, respondents are advised the Government will not pay for any information provided, the use of such information, the preparation of such information, travel expenses, nor any administrative costs incurred in response to this market research. All costs associated with responding to this market research will be solely at the interested parties’ expense.

Any information considered proprietary should be noted via appropriate markings. The Government will use such information only to inform and support any potential solicitation and contract or for such other purposes as described herein.

Not responding to this market research does not preclude participation in any future request for proposal (RFP) or request for quotation (RFQ), if any is issued. Were the Government to issue an RFP or RFQ for the acquisition of an archiving strategy for an Oracle 19c production database linked to the IBC Datamart Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) application, any such solicitation may include but not be limited to additional requirements for procurement of system software installation, training, and on-site Interim Contractor Support. Respondents need not address any of these elements in their RFI submission.

This is market research, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. The Government does not intend to award a contract/order based on responses received from this market research effort. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback with respect to any information submitted.

II. REQUIREMENTS:

IBC is seeking information from the vendor community regarding guidance on whether it is advisable to implement an archived data solution for the Datamart production database that supports the IBC Datamart OAS. Details should include a description of the following:

a. The method for determining when an archived solution is warranted for an OAS application.

b. Identification of key performance indicators that should be used in determining whether an archived database solution is warranted for an OAS application instance.

III. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT AND NEEDS

IBC manages the Datamart which is based on the on-premises Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) application. The OAS (version 7.0) is an integrated suite of business intelligence tools for interactive reporting, dashboards, and published reporting. It uses graphics grammar to render data using various visualization techniques from multiple data sources with built-in predictive and machine learning models. The IBC is planning to upgrade to OAS version 7.6 at the end of February 2025.

The IBC Datamart OAS production database (FPDM) is on Oracle 19c. It contains thirty years of data (about 6.1 TB) primarily from the Federal Personnel Payroll System (FPPS), which is a mainframe system. The data relates to millions of personnel, payroll, and time and attendance transactions for almost 900,000 current and former Federal employees. There are approximately 4,000 Datamart OAS users at more than 50 Federal client agencies and DOI Bureaus and offices who receive personnel and payroll services through IBC’s FPPS.

Additional facts about the Datamart OAS FPDM database:

- Datafile used: 6.1 TB

- Datafile size: 8.7 TB

- Fields: 87,309

- Tables: 1,278

- Partitioned tables: 63

- Oldest data in years: 27

- Operating system: Solaris 5.11

- Data archive: No

IBC is unaware of any significant Datamart OAS performance issues resulting from the FPDM production database containing 6.1 TB of data from 30 plus years of FPPS operations. On those occasions when we experienced an unscheduled system outage or the application required a reboot due to latency, we took measures to increase the system resources and/or adjusted the configuration settings which resolved the issue.

IBC seeks information on whether it is advisable (and if so, how) to develop an archive solution for the Oracle 19 production database linked to the IBC Datamart OAS application. We recently explored the feasibility of developing a data archive for the Datamart OAS production database.

Since most of the data is based on the biweekly Federal payroll cycle, a date-based view of the data (such as end of year or end of month transactions) was deemed not feasible.

The data relates to the following categories (subject areas):

a. FPPS Combined History – Contains data representing an historical snapshot for a given point in time of an employee’s personnel and payroll data. This is data that is prior to the current processing pay period.

b. Transaction – Contains data from personnel transactions processed for employees that are initiated by either the requesting office (supported by a Standard Form 52 event) or the Servicing Personnel Office (supported by a Standard Form 50 event).

c. Time and Attendance – Contains timesheet data for employees.

d. Labor Cost – Contains pay code details for an organization or for an employee.

IBC has been unsuccessful in separating the data into an archive based on a transaction date.

There is no single field, or even a combination of several fields, that provide a clean segregation of data between an archive and the production database. Industry guidance is sought on whether it is advisable (and if so, how) to implement an archive solution for IBC’s OAS 6.1 TB production database.

IV. VENDOR ONE-ON-ONE SESSIONS

Depending on the responses received to this RFI, IBC may conduct vendor one-on-one sessions, not to exceed two hours, with each interested vendor separately through a Microsoft Teams meeting. This will provide an opportunity to further discuss the vendor’s response, capabilities, and lessons learned for these types of services outlined in the RFI. Vendor one-on-one sessions, if held, are anticipated to be held in April 2025.

V. VENDOR INPUT REQUESTED

All interested firms are invited to submit the following information in response to this RFI.

Please note that a small business firm may submit a capability statement that includes the expertise of large business partner companies under a teaming arrangement.

The Government requests that companies interested in responding to this notice provide the following general information:

1. What Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) or General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule(s) (FSS) do you currently hold that would support this requirement? Provide each overarching GWAC/GSA FSS contract number and corresponding NAICS Code(s).

2. What is your Unique Entity ID (UEI) number?

3. Which business size categories do you fall under? Please select all that apply or list on the cover page of your RFI response.

Category Applicable?

Large Business Small Business (SB) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Section 8(a) Business

Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB)

Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Business

Veteran-Owned Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

(SDVOSB)

Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE)

4. Contractor Point of Contact:

i. Business Name

ii. Point of Contact Name

iii. Title

iv. Phone Number

v. Email Address

5. Size of business pursuant to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes:

NAICS Code NAICS Code Description Size standard 518210 Data Processing, Hosting and Related services $40 million

541511 Custom Computer Programming services

$34 million

6. Capability Statement

7. Questions: The Government requests that the vendor provide responses to the following questions to aid in submission review.

a. What are the potential benefits of implementing a data archive for an Oracle 19c production database linked to an Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) on-premise systems application?

b. What are the key performance indicators that would suggest a measurable benefit from implementing a data archive for the IBC Datamart production database?

c. Describe two examples of when your company developed and implemented an archive capability for an Oracle 19c database linked to an on-premises instance of Oracle Analytics Server.

d. What were the technical challenges encountered and how were they overcome?

e. What were the benefits realized by the requesting organization in implementing the data archive for the production database linked to an OAS application?

VI. FORMAT AND LIMITATION

In response to this sources sought notice, please use the following guidelines in preparing your capabilities statement:

- Please use 8½ x 11-inch paper only.

- A page is defined as one side of an 8½ by 11-inch paper. Therefore, a piece of paper with printing on both sides is considered two pages.

- Arial size 12 font or similar.

- The recommended page limit for the capability statement is no more than four (4) pages for items 1-6 of Section 5 and no more than eight (8) pages for item 7 of Section 5.

- Please submit your response as Adobe (.pdf) files.

- Pricing materials may be provided in Microsoft Excel Format.

- The subject line of your email and all correspondence must include the sources sought title found on the cover page above.

VII. DISCLAIMER

This notice does not constitute a solicitation and is not a commitment by the Government.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government will not provide a response to the feedback or questions directly but may consider industry feedback/questions in possible revisions to the RFI. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests.

The Government reserves the right to use any and all information submitted by, or obtained from, a responding firm in any manner the Government determines is appropriate, including, but not limited to, the creation of a competitive solicitation.

Notices to Offerors of Non-Governmental Support You are hereby notified that the Department of Interior intends to use outside Contractors to provide support with this RFI. DOI Contractors will have access to any and all information contained in the capability statement and will be subject to appropriate conflict of interest, standards of conduct, and confidentiality restrictions. The current DOI prime support Contractors assisting with the evaluation of capability statements for this requirement are:

IM SOLUTIONS INC.

VIII. RESPONSE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Companies interested in responding to this notice may reply on or before 12:00 pm (noon) ET March 10, 2025. All aforementioned items included in this notice shall be addressed. Feedback may be used to assist the Government with this acquisition. Please provide your response via email to Christina Lene, Contracting Officer christina_lene@ibc.doi.gov and courtesy copy mailto:christina_lene@ibc.doi.gov

Jamie Gregar, Contracting Officer jamie_gregar@ibc.doi.gov. There is no page limit for responses. Interested parties should avoid including any classified, business confidential, and/or proprietary information in its response. However, if an interested firm must submit such information, that information must be clearly marked. The Government will review the information and safeguard it appropriately.

Submission transmitted via facsimile (fax) will not be accepted.

Should any submissions be received after the date and time stated above, the Government reserves the right not to review the response.

mailto:jamie_gregar@ibc.doi.gov

Notices to Offerors of Non-Governmental Support