Attachment_J-6_Question_and_Answers.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 550 KB Posted Jul 18, 2014

Attached to: Health Care Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) Infrastructure and Data Center Support (HIDS)
Solicitation number: CMS-150209
Issued by: Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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File	Type	Posted
RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209.pdf	PDF	Jul 25, 2014
Attachment_J-6_Question_and_Answers.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jul 25, 2014
RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209.pdf	PDF	Jul 18, 2014
J-1_HIDS_SOW_06-30-14.docx	DOCX document	Jul 18, 2014
J-6_Question_and_Answer_Template.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Jun 13, 2014
J-2_Schedule_of_Deliverables_4-29-14.pdf	PDF	Jun 13, 2014
RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209.pdf	PDF	Jun 13, 2014
J-4_Consent_to_Subcontract.pdf	PDF	Jun 13, 2014
J-3_Award_Fee_Plan_4-29-14.pdf	PDF	Jun 13, 2014
J-5_Non_Disclosure_Statement.docx	DOCX document	Jun 13, 2014
J-7_CMS_Guide_Incident_Reporting.pdf	PDF	Jun 13, 2014
J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	DOCX document	Jun 13, 2014
HIDS_SOW_4-21-2014_DRAFT.docx	DOCX document	Apr 23, 2014

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Sheet1 No. Document Name Page Section Question/Comment/Suggestion CMS Response

1 J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1] 1 APPENDIX C.A HCQIS IT ASSETS COUNT What is the number of Database instances in HCQIS? What is the number of Oracle web and middle tier instances at HCQIS? These are counts of production Oracle database instances and the number of databases using RAC. The total counts for non-production are also included:

PRODUCTION

Total: 86

RAC: 37

VALIDATION & VERIFICATION

Total: 59

RAC: 0

ISOLATED TEST FACILITY

Total: 55

RAC: 19

TEST

Total: 75

RAC: 21

2	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	1	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Does the asset count in this list include QIES assets?	QIES assets are listed in Appendix C.F
3	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	1	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Please provide the complete list of HW assets with information on location, Vendor/Model/Type/Serial number, serial #, procurement date, and when the existing maintenance expires.	Level of detail requested is not necessary for this proposal.
4	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	1	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Please provide the complete list of SW assets with location, quantity, module details, version, procurement date, and when the existing maintenance expires.	Level of detail requested is not necessary for this proposal.
5	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	C1.1, Background	Please provide data for the following items for each supported application.

- Application Name

- Environment (Test, Prod, etc.)

- Zone (Presentation, Data, Application)

- Server Description

- Server Model or VM

- CPU Cores

- RAM

- Internal Disk

- SAN Storage GB

- Technology Stack (OS, Middleware, Database, etc.)

See Appendixes in SoW.
6	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	Appendix C.A	Will the government clarify if the number of Virtual Unix (1,228) and Windows servers (209) listed in this Section are running on the listed physical Unix (553) and Windows (417) servers, or are there more physical servers?	All virtual servers are running on physical servers listed.
7	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	Appendix C.A.	Will the government share if it has a set power standard? (For example, two 208 volts 30amp per rack, etc.?) If so, will the government amend this Section of the Solicitation?	The government expects power redundancy through the use of dual power supplies fed by separate PDAs.
8	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	Appendix C.A.	Will the government provide an inventory of power whips presently utilized? (For example, 120v 20amp, 208v 30amp etc.)	CMS expects that the bidder will provide the proper power to support the assets identified in this RFP
9	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	Appendix C.A	Will the government clarify how many racks does the HCQIS HIDS program currently have?	Refer to sections C.A. and C.F of SoW.
10	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	1	Appendix C.A.	Will the government clarify if it intends to provide the server racks?	Yes, the government will be transferring the current server racks.
11	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	1	Appendix C.A	With regard to the servers, will the government clarify if the servers use a standardized configuration or custom configurations? Will the government provide the ratio of standardized to custom server configurations in the environment?	Currently, the standard setup adheres to current United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) guidelines. However, servers are configured appropriately for the specific function they support.
12	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	1	Appendix C.A	The ratio of virtual to physical servers appears unclear. Will the government provide the number of physical servers that are running Solaris, and how many of those are running Solaris Containers (for virtualization)? Will the government clarify if there are any Solaris OS images running in a virtual mode (e.g., containers), or are all Solaris OS images on physical servers only (1 physical server/1 OS)? Will the government provide the number of physical servers that are running RedHat, and how many servers are running VMWare ESX? Will the government provide the number of virtual RedHat images (all identified 1,228?)? Will the government clarify if all of the Windows Physical servers are dedicated (1 server / 1 OS)?	Please refer to Appendix C.8, Section C.A
13	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	3	C.1.1 Background and SOW Appendices	In reference to the SOW appendices, the SOW states "All IT assets are Government Owned assets and will need to be transitioned from outgoing Contractor to the incoming Contractor." However, the appendices appear to list assets that are not government-owned, such as the Avaya Call Management System listed in Appendix C.C. Please clarify which inventory items are provided as GFE and which items are to be provided by the contractor.	All IT assets listed in Appendix C.C are government owned and may be transitioned or replaced. CMS owns one Avaya Call Management System currently operating on Version 5.2, however Offerors may propose their own solution for Help Desk call management.
14	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	4	C.1.2.1	Will the government provide a different reference for the deliverables? The SOW states "the contractor shall provide deliverables listed in Section F.8". The deliverables do not appear to be in Section F.8 in the RFP. Does the government intend to amend this Section?	Refer to the SOD for all Deliverables; the SoW has been corrected to reflect correct reference.
15	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	4	C.1.2.2	Will the government clarify if SOC calls can be answered by persons outside of the US, and then directed to a CONUS person(s) for action?	RFP Section H.9, Work Performed Outside of the United States and its Territories, states that the contractor and its subcontractors shall not perform any activities under this contract at a location outside the United States without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. At this time , work is not approved to be performed outside the U.S. See clause for more details.
16	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	5	APPENDIX C.C HCQIS INFRASTRUCTURE IT INVENTORY	What are the current applications hosted in the Data Center? What are the corresponding release schedules?	Refer to SoW Section C.1.1 Background
17	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	5	APPENDIX C.C HCQIS INFRASTRUCTURE IT INVENTORY	How many applications does HCQIS support? A list of the applications and associated technologies will provide the necessary detail to properly scope the transition and support.	Refer to SoW Section C.1.1 Background
18	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	5	Appendix A Software List	Will the government confirm that YBASE PowerBuilder is synonymous with SYBASE PowerBuilder?	Yes YBASE is incorrectly spelled should be SYBASE
19	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	6	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Will CMS provide more details on available VMWare licenses? Which VMWare products are licensed by CCSQ and at what quantity?	All Licenses will be transferred and quantity is irrelevant to providing costs, contractor needs to be well versed in VMWare product line.
20	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	7	APPENDIX C.C HCQIS INFRASTRUCTURE IT INVENTORY	Can CMS provide the network connectivity topology for HCQIS environment and connectivity diagrams for QualityNet and applications?

1. Detail Network topology of Data Center

2. Detail Network topology of Regional Offices

3. Detail network topology of ESRD, QIO and CDAC

4. ESRD, QIO and CDAC location, address, size

5. Detail inventory of VTC devices

a. Vendor/Model/Type/Serial number

b. Support agreements

6. Detail VTC topology

CMS can provide a high-level WAN diagram to illustrate locations and circuits that need to be supported. Within the data center itself, HCQIS conforms to the CMS three-tier architecture requirements of the Technical Reference Architecture. Please see the three attachements for additional details.
21	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	7	APPENDIX C.C HCQIS INFRASTRUCTURE IT INVENTORY	The following information has been provided as the power profile of the existing Data Center within the SOW.

Primary located in Warrenton, Virginia:

• Two separate feeds coming into DC (Both 2000 amp service) o Feed 1 backed up by (3) 500kW Cummins Generators o Feed 2 backed up by (2) 500kW Cummins Generators

• HVAC: (10) 30 ton Units with space for (1) more

• UPS: (4) 80 kW units and (4) Symmetra PX units (The four symmetra PX vary in kW) o APC-7 – 375kW o APC-8 – 375kW o APC-9 – 125kW o APC-10 – 125kW

• Total Square footage of DC is 11,382

• We have moved all Facilities Infrastructure equipment off of Orion onto Corp. Switches.

Given that data center electrical infrastructure can be engineered in various configurations, please provide the following information to ensure that proper power configuration is priced since the configuration can not be determined by the information provided:

1). For the initial HCQIS data center transition workload, as outlined in appendix C.C, please provide the kilowatts-per-hour for the critical load (defined as the supporting IT assets within the data center excluding environmental such as HVAC(s)) that should be priced.

2). For the QIES data center transition workload, as outlined in appendix C.F, please provide the kilowatts-per-hour for the critical load (defined as the supporting IT assets within the data center excluding environmental such as HVAC(s)) that should be priced.

3) What is the Warrenton, VA Data Center's a) WATTs per DC square footage and b) Power usage effectiveness (PUE)	CMS expects that the the bidders response should be based on all data center/IT needs off the HCQIS Asset Inventory listing in the RFP. The contractor should also propose any recommended equipment that will be needed to support their proposed transition plan (phased approach, pickup and move, etc) as a part of the data center transition within their base year contract and also include any recommended IT resources needs to support the overall annual HCQIS growth as outlined in the RFP.
	22	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	7	Appendix C.C	Will the government clarify how many Square Feet of Datacenter space are currently in use? Will the governement amend the solicitation to clarify?	The current DC has approximately 11,400 sq. ft. of space being used but is not all being consumed in support of the HCQIS needs. HCQIS has about 75% of that space. The bidder will need to be able to support future growth based upon the needs of the CCSQ programs supported by HCQIS.
	23	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	7	Appendix C.C	Will the government clarify on average, how much additional space has been added to the datacenter each year over the last 3-5 years? Will the governement amend the solicitation to clarify?	HCQIS floor space needs have grown approximately 20% annually as a result of the implementation and expansion of quality-related programs.
	24	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	7	Appendix C.C	Will the government clarify how much power in kilowatts (kW) does the customer currently use?	The current maximum demand is estimated to be about 620kw.
	25	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	7	Appendix C.C	Will the government clarify the projected growth of power in kilowatts (kW) through the year 2024?	This is dependent upon the how efficiently the Contractor utilizes resources and the technology proposed for future growth. As such the government cannot estimate the growth at this time.
	26	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7	Appendix C.C	With regard to the SAN requirements, will the government provide the number of LUNS that are under management? Will the government provide the rate/volume of change on the SAN platform (regular maintenance and configuration changes), and the yearly historical trends that could be used to extrapolate a plan for future growth.	Currently, there are 9,202 LUNS under management. Historically, SAN growth has been about 25% annually.
	27	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7	Appendix C.C	With regard to the SAN requirements, will the government provide the SAN configuration and management tools that will accompany the SAN devices (provided by the agency), or are such tools the responsibility of the offeror to provide?	Yes.
	28	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7	Appendix C.C	With regard to the Platform, Oracle 10 is identified as the OS for certain identified server types. Will the government clarify if all Oracle servers are on Solaris 10, or if there are any servers on Solaris 8 or 9 (or any other OS version)?	Nearly all of the Solaris servers are running V10; less than 10 servers are still using V9.
	29	Section C-SOW Appendix C.C HCQIS Infrastructure IT Inventory	8	IT Service Desk/Help Desk	What is BMC Remedy AR v7.5 (Action Request) System still being used for?	Incident Tracking, Emergancy Change Request, Service Request
	30	Section C-SOW Appendix C.C HCQIS Infrastructure IT Inventory	8	IT Service Desk/Help Desk	What modules/pieces of the BMC Remedy ITSM v7.6 are purchased vs. in-use currently?	Service Desk, Asset Mgmnt, Atrium Dashboards & Anal, Service Level Mgmnt, Change Mgmnt, Knowledge Mgmnt, IT Service Mgmnt Suite, Self-Service
	31	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	8	F.4	Did the government intend for desktop/laptop support (including refresh) and VTC support to be delivered at the Contractor's site only? If so, will the government clarify its expectation for this requirement?	It will be delivered as needed across the HCQIS environment to include remote locations across the U.S.A.
	32	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	9	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Will CMS provide more details on available Oracle Enterprise Manager licenses? Which OEM modules and packs are licensed by CCSQ and at what quantity?	Database management pack, SOA management packs, WEBLogic management packs as part of ULA
	33	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	9	Appendix C.A HCQIS IT Assets Count	Will CMS provide more details on available Opnet licenses? Which modules are licensed by CCSQ and at what quantity?	No enterprise licensing – licensed for production and some select lower environments

OPNET AppInternals

OPNET SAAS

OPNET AppMapper

34	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	11	Apendix C.E	What is the size of the Oracle DataBases for Development, Quality Assurance, Validation and Verification, Isolated Test Facility and Production environments?	The three largest databases are CREW (PQRS), HAJI (HCQIS Warehouse), and QNOL (HR) and are 70Tb, 50Tb, and 14Tb respectively.
35	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	11	C.2.1.4	Will the government provide the name of the current EVMS tool, and version in use on the program?	Contractor will provide their own EVMS tool. This will not be Govt Furnished.
36	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	11	C.2.1.4	Will the government clarify if during or after transition will EVMS and IBR processes begin?	EVMS and IBR processes begin 30 days after contract award.
37	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	14	C.2.1.5	Will the government provide the location where the customer is geographically transitioning from?	The Data Center is currently located in Warrenton, VA.
38	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	14	C.2.1.5	Can the government provide how much outage can the client absorb for the transition? If the feedback is zero or one to a few hours, will the government clarify if the migrating applications are fully redundant to facilitate breaking a mirror or cluster to enable continued operation while the other portion is transitioned? Will the government clarify if data needs to be synchronized between the sites prior to cutover? If so, will the government share how much data?	Contractor will propose a transition plan with recommendations recognizing that minimal downtime and service degradation is desired.
39	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	14	C.2.1.5 and C.2.1.6	Is it the government's intent that transition plan and related tasks described in these two sections seem redundant? Will the government clarify which party is responsible for which activities, and under what time constraints.?	This will be up to incoming and outgoing contractors to collaborate on a transition plan to be approved by the government.
40	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	16	C.2.2.2	Will the government clarify if a VPN solution is approved for remote access to facilitate support of the environment?	Yes, VPN is available and approved for remote support.
41	SOW - HCQIS	17	C.2.2.2 Network Design and Engineering	"Additional network engineering task are anticipated the base year." Is there any sizing estimate that can be provided to backup this statement?	Details are not available at this time and would be provided in a contract modification if the work cannot be completed within base year funding.
42	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	17	C.2.2.2.1 and C.2.2.2.2	With regard to the Network requirements, will the government provide the uplink speed requirements (100M, 1G and etc.) or data usage, and the amount of bandwidth that is currently utilized in the environment for replication and backups?	Data center bandwidth for backups varies depending on the equipment being backed up and LAN segement on which it resides.
43	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	18	C.2.2.3.2	"...shall provide a mechanism to build server and application computing environments automatically and rapidly…" - What tools are currently in place to support this requirement?	Altiris, SCCM, Oracle OEM
44	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	21	C.2.2.6	Does the language "HCQIS data center shall be isolated from any other tenants’ resources" indicate that the government requires a dedicated building, or simply that the CMS equipment should be hosted in a secure, dedicated, contiguous space?	A dedicated building or isolation by "caging" specififc parts of the data center is not required. The intent is to limit access to computer equipment, facility equipment/controls, and cabling, to essential personnel in direct support of HCQIS. The contractors should elaborate how this will be accomplished within their data centers. The physical space must also provide contiguous growth capability.
45	Section C-SOW	24	C.2.3.1 Service Level Management	Are the existing Operational Level Agreements and Service Level Agreements available to be shared?	The Offeror shall propose a recommened OLA/SLA that will be evaluated by CMS.
46	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	25	C.2.3.3 Capacity and Performance Management	How many incidents are reported daily, weekly and monthly?	The Help Desk handles between 13, 000 - 34,000 calls a month.
47	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	25	C.2.3.3 Capacity and Performance Management	Is there a list of additional applications being used and supported not listed in the RFP?	Current applications supported are listed in the RFP.
48	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	25	C.2.3.3 Capacity and Performance Management	Is there a list of additional hardware being used at the CMS not listed in the RFP?	HW/SW identified in the RFP account for resources known when the RFP was submitted, CMS may procure additional resources during the submittal and award of the RFP. The Offeror should base their pricing on what is in the RFP.
49	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	25	C.2.3.3 Capacity and Performance Management	Is there a list of licenses being supported at CMS?	A list of current software licensing is provided in the SOW.
50	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	27	C.2.3.4	"The Contractor shall procure…" - it is unclear who holds title to the assets procured.	The Government shall own all assets procured under this contract.
51	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	27	C.2.3.1	Will the government provide the current service levels supported by the incumbent contractor?	The bidder should propose their recommended OLA/SLA that will be evaluated by CMS.
52	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	28	C.2.3.7	What are the Disaster Recovery and Continuity of Operations requirements? For each application, provide the criticality level and service levels (RTO, RPO). Also, if Disaster Recovery is not currently in place, what is the timeline to support Disaster Recovery.	HCQIS systems are classified under FIPS 199 as "moderate" systems.
53	J-1 HIDS SOW 4-21-14	28	C.2.3.6 HCQIS Applications and Services Inventory Management	Reference: The Contractor shall maintain an inventory of all IT hardware, software, certificates, licenses and assets included in this SOW and acquired in the performance of this SOW. The inventory shall provide consistent and accurate inventory information and have the ability to link assets appropriately to owners, users and each other as necessary to effectively manage, report and audit.

Question: Are all IT hardware, software, certificates, licenses and assets included in this SOW, and acquired in the performance of this SoW, the property of the Government?	Yes, with the exception of the Call Management System referenced in the IT Service Desk/Help Desk section of the Appendix.
	54	SOW - HCQIS	28	C.2.3.7 Business Continuity and Contingency Plan	"The Contractor shall develop the BCCP to support the HCQIS infrastructure and one for each major application." The RFP references a list of Major HCQIS LOBs in Appendix C.B. Which of the LOBs listed in the appendix, if any, do not presently have a BCCP that address the significant aspects of redeployment and executing support for the application?	None of the LOBs have an adequate BCCP at this time. The Offeror shall propose recommendations, following standard government policies, that will be evaluated by the government.
	55	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	28	C.2.3.7	There is discussion about a DR desktop exercise and there is a required Disaster Recovery Plan. However, there doesn’t appear to be a requirement for a DR site. Will the government clarify how DR will be facilitated, and if all applications are failover enabled? Will the government provide the automated failover solution that is currently employed, or if failover is a manual process? Will the government provide the DR requirements?	Currently, HCQIS does not have a failover site or DR Plan. CMS will work with the awarded Offeror to finalize requirements and implement recommended solutions.
	56	J-1 HIDS SOW 4-21-14	29	C.2.4.1 Configuration Management	Reference: The Contractor shall identify the HCQIS hardware, software, and documentation baselines to put under Configuration Management (CM) control and to support the ongoing implementation of the HCQIS CM tools.

Question: Which products listed under Management Services in Appendix C.C are the HCQIS CM tools currently being implemented and scheduled for continued implementation in the Base Year of the HIDS contract?	Serena Dimensions.
	57	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	29	C.2.4	Can CCSQ provide an inventory of applications?	C.1.1 is a listing of current applications.
	58	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	32	C.2.5	Can CCSQ provide the infrastructure maintenance schedule?	The maintenance schedule is currently monthly with weekly updates/patches/etc. CMS is expecting the contractor to submit recommendations for consideration.
	59	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	33	C.2.4.3 Release and Deployment Management	How many releases per quarter are anticipated in the environment? What has been the historical rate of release?	Approximately 40 releases are executed per quarter. The number of releases varies per application per quarter depending on Program needs.
	60	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	33	C.2.4.2 Change Management	What is the average number of changes per quarter to the environments?	Estimated average is about 350 changes per quarter.
	61	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	34	C.2.4.4.2	Is the offeror expected to supply staff functional experts for the applications supported to perform verification and validation testing, or will the government provide functional experts to work with the offeror's test team?	No. V&V Testing will be performed under a separate contract.
	62	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	36	C.2.5.3.2	"The Contractor shall be able to build and operationalize application computing environments in all HCQIS regions ... rapidly and within hours as needed…" - this is an open ended requirement, need some guidance to limit risk.	This statement is intended to support the requirements outlined in this section and is not intended to establish a service level requirement.
	63	J-1 HIDS SOW 4-21-14	37	C.2.5.4.1 Network Operations Center (NOC)	Reference: Upon contract award, CMS requires that the Contractor conduct due diligence to recommend any additional tools to perform all monitoring and management services to ensure optimum performance of hosted applications and supporting infrastructure.

Question: What tool information and recommendations, if any, are Offerors required to provide in their Technical and Business Proposals?	The contractor should identify tools that they have used/recommend for CMS to support the NOC.
	64	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	39	C.2.5.5.1, Software Management and Maintenance	The reference contains the following narrative: “The Contractor shall maintain and monitor a list of all End of Life and End of Support software within HCQIS….”

Will CMS please provide a current hardware/software inventory list that includes at least acquisition date, make/model/serial number/version of each asset utilized within HCQIS environment?

Maintenance and Monitoring will begin after contract award. See the Appendix for a list of IT assets. Additional details can be provided following award.
65	SOW	41	C.2.5.7	Database Management and Support - How Many Databases do you currently have in Production, test, devel, and QA?	Environment Total DBs

DEV 51

ITF 45

N/A 22

PROD 65

QA 64

VV 59

Where N/A is an environment which is not supported by Infrastructure DBAs, but managed by ADO ( ex. DECC has Sandbox databases and Edaptive has a few QIP DEV/QA databases).

66	SOW	41	C.2.5.7	Database Management ande Support - What is the size of the production database?	The DataWharehouses sizes varies. The three largest databases are CREW (PQRS), HAJI (HCQIS Warehouse), and QNOL (HR) and are 70Tb, 50Tb, and 14Tb respectively.
67	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	41	C.2.5.7.1	Will the government provide the testing hours during which the offeror is required to provide support?	This varies based on individual LOB's timelines and schedules. Most testing occurs during daytime and evening hours, but support may be required at any time.
68	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	44	C.2.5.7 Database & Storage Management	Describe the current state of the lifecycle of the existing SAN environment, when is the schedule for SAN refresh? Which tools are being used to monitor and capacity plan for the SAN today?	Anywhere from 2016 and after. EMC tools are used to monitor the current SAN environment.

69 J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14 44 C.2.5.8 Will the Government provide additional information such as incidents, number of projects, or tasks, or level of activity for the following items? · Intrusion Detection and Protection

· Certificate Management

· Firewalls

· Host Intrusion Detection

· Anti-virus Protection

· XML Gateway Appliances

· Monitoring and Alerting

· Encryption

· Access Control

· Media Protection

· Security Compliance

· Data Loss Prevention	For security purposes we do not provide this information at this level of detail, but monthly we receive 18,115 number of incidents total.
	70	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	45	C.2.5.8.4	Will the government provide the level of logging that is currently being used, and name of the software solution that government is currently utilizing for log aggregation and management?	Different tools are used, some homegrown/COTS within the environment. This level of detail is not necessary for a cost proposal.
	71	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	46	C.2.5.8.5	Will the government clarify if the offeror is responsible for costs associated with the annual third party audit? Did the government intend to add something to the end of the sentence, "All costs associated with third party auditor engagements performing SCA testing"?	The bullet should state "All costs associated with third party auditor engagements performing SCA testing."

The contractor shall propose estimated costs to support third party SCA testing for the HCQIS environment. The funding/scheduling/etc will be a part of the contract.

72 J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx 47 C.2.5.8.6 Will the government provide the format or tool required to provide the automated data feeds to CMS SOC? These are the tools being used in the HCQIS SOC:

Tripwire Enterprise FireEye SOURCEfire

IP 360

Nessus Splunk Enterprise WebSense DbProtect AppDetective Pro

	73	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	48	C.2.5.8.7	Does the government use a product for consolidated access management? Will the government provide the names of the tools currently being used for authentication, authorization and single sign on?	Single sign-on still being implemented. All identity management and authentication is being migrated to the CMS Enterprise Identity Management System (EIDM) in 2015.
	74	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	49	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	What is the breakdown of the helpdesk tickets by types?	Level of detail not required for a cost proposal. The average number of tickets were provided in the RFP.
	75	SOW	49	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	What version of Avaya Call Manager is being used?	Version 16 of the CMS Supervisor for the client on the management/lead workstations.
	76	SOW	49	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	What is the current FCR rate?	This level of detail is not required for a cost proposal
	77	SOW	49	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	Please provide a list of incidents by type and occurrence.	Level of detail not required for a cost proposal. The incident types varies widely as with any other environment.
	78	SOW	49	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	Is the contractor required to provide support for BYOD?	BYOD is currently not an option within the HCQIS environment. This may change in the future but for the purpose of this RFP, there are no requirements to support BYOD.
	79	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	49	C.2.5.9	Will the government provide the total number of users that are supported by the Helpdesk?	The HD supports internal and external customers. The average number of calls that was provided as a part of the RFP should be enough to base proposal on as the total number of potential customers versus the average number of calls received is vastly different. CMS requests bidder propose based on RFP HD calls identified
	80	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	50	C.2.5.9	It is unclear who owns the responsibility gor applciation-specific help desk support. Is the Contractor expected to provide this support or are there one or more Level 2/3 application help desks that the Contractor's help desk would execute a hand-off to?	The HCQIS HD is a Tiered service. The contractor will be responsible for Tier 1 for all applications & depending on what the issue is. Tickets will be passed on to the appropriate next level contractor which at times may be the infrastructure contractor if it is not an application issue.
	81	Section C-SOW	51	C2.5.9.3 Request Management	What level of integration does the current help desk have with the CMDB and the Service Catalog?
	Limited at this time. The HD will play a significant roll with both as they will communicate/work with the team to provide input/updates/etc. The contractor and CMS will work together to implement the process/work flow.
	82	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	51	C.2.5.9	Will the government clarify if "QNET Exchange" refers to MS Exchange email? If not, will the government explain what a "QNET Exchange" registration requires?	QNET is NOT the same as Microsoft Exchange. QNET exchange allows secure file exchange, users need to register to get account.
	83	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	52	C.2.5.10.1	Will the government provide details on the specific locations of sites for VTC administration, as well as the quantity, and type of equipment at each location?	Remote system access is required, but each QIO and ESRD contractor has local administrative support that the contractor will be expected to work with.
	84	J-12_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	53	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	What Help Desk SLAs already exist with regard to incidents, issues, concerns, questions, problems, and hardware/software failures from the LOB communities?	CMS expects the Offeror to propose HD SLAs and negotiate final SLAs after award.
	85	J-12_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	53	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	How does CMS objectively and qualitatively define “user friendly access”?	User Friendly refers to the ability to effectively communicate with users in non-technical terms and professional fashion.
	86	J-12_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	53	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	How does CMS define “enhanced helpdesk support” from the support requirements previously listed?	The contractor will recommend enhancements that are above and beyond the requirements previously listed.
	87	SOW	53	C.2.5.10.2	How many Web conferences do you currently hold per day on average?	Average montly number is about 200 external calls per month supporting our contractors and about 400 internal web conferences internal to support troubleshooting of internal issues between infrastructure and development contractors.
	88	SOW	53	C.2.5.10.2	How many training courses are performed per week/month/year on average, and are training materials other then electronic presentations required?	CMS estimate less than 5 training courses per week on average and materials such as electronic documentation is expected but there may be times during which printed materials may be required.
	89	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	54	C.2.5.9.1 Incident Management	What is the average number of incidents (open a trouble ticket) per quarter per HCQIS Line of Business (LOB)? What is the percentage of minor to severe impacting incidents?	Refer to Section 2.5.9 page 51, percentage data varies.
	90	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	55	C.2.5.12	Will the government share the types of security events and incidents currently being monitored?	No. Offeror should recommend appropriate security monitoring.
	91	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	56	C.2.5.14	Will the government provide details on the specific locations for all sites that require workstation support on site, as well as the number of supported users for each site?	Nationwide details of actual locations will be provided upon award.
	92	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14[1]	63	C.3 HCQIS QIES TRANSISTION	Who is providing hosting support on QIES? And where are the QIES National servers and State servers hosted?	Incumbent contractor currently provides hosting at the Warrenton data center. State servers are currently located in, and managed by, their respective states.
	93	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	63	C.3	Does the government expect the offeror to provide cost estimates/elements for QIES transition, and ongoing support based on the section and the information in Appendix A alone?	Yes, this is an accurate statement.
	94	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	70	L.10 (b)	Did the government intend to omit the specifications referenced in the table where it states "specifications for CDs/DVDs"? If so, will the government provide the specifications it refers to in this Section?	Section L.1.2 describes the requirement for CD/DVD delivery as being : the files on each CD/DVD shall be compatible with Microsoft(MS) Office 2007. As specified in Section L, all proposal data must be hand delivered.
	95	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	70	L.10 (b)	Is it the government's intent to require six (6) CDs/DVDs, and six (6) diskettes? If diskettes are required, will the government specify the format?	A total of 6 CD/DVDs is the requirement.
	96	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	70	L.10 (b)	Will the government clarify if either hand-delivery, or mail delivery is acceptable, or if both hand and mail delivery are required?	Hand-delivery or mailed are both acceptable, however the government will not accept late responses.
	97	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Is CMS using a Release Management System today?	Yes, we currently use a RMS.
	98	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Is CMS using a Data Management System today?	CMS is not currently using a single data management solution but does practice various aspects of data management such as data governance, data modelling, database management, data quality management, data security management, data warehousing and metadata management.
	99	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Is CMS using an automated build solution today?	CMS is using a mix of automated and manual technicques for builds. It is expected that the bidder will submit their recommendations for meeting fully automated build capabilities.
	100	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Does CMS have their current Service Management processes mapped out?	In some cases, yes. CMS expects the bidder to work with us to develop additional and refine existing service management processes.
	101	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Does CMS have roles and responsibilities mapped out between the Service Areas: Change, Configuration, Release, and Incident	Yes, however, Offeror may propose changes/improvements.
	102	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Do we know how many users are being supported by the Service Desk?	There are a number of users supported between all the LOBs and the different programs under each LOB as well as their perspective users. We have approximately 100,000 HCQIS accounts.
	103	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Do we know how many desktop users the service center is supporting?	The current number is estimated at 4,500.
	104	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Does the CMS have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)?	Yes.
	105	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	Does the CMS have a Knowledge Management System (KMS)?	Yes. Remedy is used for KMS.
	106	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	74	2.5 Service and Service Management	What Help Desk software is CMS using?	7.6 Remedy - internal knowledge base on file & print sever, Access DB.
	107	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	76	Chapter 3 Transition In	Is there a Continuity Plan today and when is the last time it was updated?	HICQIS currently has a contingency plan in place. Requirements for this SOW are to develop a business continuity plan in COOP.
	108	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	83	M.1	Will the governement define QualityNet and QNET?	QualityNet and QNET are one in the same. It represents CCSQ overall IT infrastructure.
	109	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	84	c.A.2	What is the hardware and sofware inventory for the in scope HCQIS applications? For servers, the following information is needed to size the solution: hardware model, number of cores, memory, local storage, and age of equipment. For storage, the following information is needed to size the solution: hardware model, capacity, and age of equipment.	The Appendices provide inventory information. The additional information requested will be provided after contract award.
	110	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	84	APEENDIX C.A	Will the government share network diagrams for the various environments listed?	Yes, upon contract award.
	111	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	90	APPENDIX C.C HCQIS INFRASTRUCTURE IT INVENTORY	What percentage of Growth is anticipated on a yearly basis (hardware, software and services)?	Stated in Appendix C.C: 20%
	112	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	90	C.C	Do any of the applications require physical network or server isolation from the other HCQIS applications?	Some logical separation is a required and some applications will have to reside on their own physical servers.
	113	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	94	APPENDIX C.E	Will the government provide the current communication protocols being used?	Yes, upon contract award.
	114	J-1_HIDS_SOW-04-21-14	94	APPENDIX C.E	Will the government provide detailed application and database specifications, and architecture diagrams for the systems being hosted?	Yes, upon contract award.
	115	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	30	C.2.4.2, Change Management
1st paragraph, 2nd sentence	The reference contains the following narrative: “The Contractor shall have primary responsibility for the implementation and use of the HCQIS standard CM tools.”

Will CMS please identify the standard CM tools along with vendor and current operating version?

	No, level of detail requested is not necessary for this proposal.
	116	C.8 Appendices	1-29	Appendices	In order to provide competing bidders with similar access to the service life available of existing assets that is available to incumbent- can CMS please provide an acquisition date or remaining # of years until fully depreciated for all assets itemized for hardware/software on all Appendices included in Section C-8?	The bidder should propose based upon the information in the RFP. Since all equipment is government-owned, useful life and depreciated value should not matter.
	117	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	13-24	Appendix C.F	Will the government clarify if the customer is holding maintenance contracts on all GFE equipment, or will the government require the offeror to enter into maintenance contracts on all equipment?	All GFE is under maintenance. The contractor will have the responsibility of working with CMS and the vendors to transfer or re-negotiate existing contract agreements. The Offeror shall maintain the agreements in such a way that proper budgeting, renewals, etc. are in place for CMS to be compliant with all necessary licensing.
	118	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	17	C.2.2.2.2, WAN Engineering; Appendix C.C, Network
Appendix pg. 8	The reference contains the following narrative: “All CMS Wide Area Network (WAN) services are provided through the Federal Government’s Network contract. HCQIS circuits are installed and operated by a Network Service Provider and are monitored and managed by the infrastructure Contractor.”

Which of the CISCO 2821, 2921, 3745, and 3945 routers listed in Appendix C.C are used by the Network Service Provider?	None of the HCQIS routers in the HCQIS inventory list are managed by the network service provider. HCQIS WAN has a mix of infrastructure managed circuits and some that are maintained by CMS agency. The contractor will be required to provide support for circuits either thru direct contact with the vendors and ownership of telecom or thru CMS as a partner. This will vary depending on the future WAN connectivity.
	119	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	18 and 43	C.2.2.1 Enterprise-Wide Engineering;
C.2.5.6. Server Operations and Maintenance	The references contain the following narratives:

Page 19: “Disaster recovery/business continuity planning and implementation” Page 43: “Provide backup and recovery services”

What are the RTO/RPO requirements for the HCQIS applications?

It varies depending on the application. The current HCQIS environment is considered a moderate risk which is subject to change. CMS will work with the awarded contractor to outline details.
120	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	34 to 87, 35 of 87	Section H	Has the government categorized the HCQIS work as a FISMA High, or Moderate General Support System (GSS)?	Moderate.
121	RFP-CMS-2015-8A-00209	34 to 87, 35 of 87	Section H	Will the government clarify if adherence to NIST 800-53 Rev. 4 is a requirement for security control implementation?	Yes, adherence is required.
122	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14	49-51	C.2.5.9 Help Desk	Please clarify if the offeror is to propose Help Desk Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3, or a combination of all levels in its offer.	Combination of all levels recognizing that Level 2 and Level 3 application software support is primarily provided by the developer, but the infrastructure contractor may need to be engaged at times at these levels.
123	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	6, 7	Appendix C.C	With regard to the servers, will the government clarify if the OS resides on each server on local attached storage, or if it is remote on SAN or JBOD devices?	The OS is local on each server.
124	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to "Concerning Network hosted infrastructure" will the government provide a network architecture diagram (topology) of the current platform for all supported systems. This information is critical for migration consideration.	Yes, upon contract award.
125	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if there is a requirement to configure the network in a 3 tier layout?	Yes, it is 3 tier architecture conforming to the CMS TRA.
126	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if this will be a 100baseT or 1000BaseT environment?	Yes, both are currently used and will be provided upon contract award.
127	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if all network components will be setup on redundant pairs (switches, load balancers, routers, firewalls) for network resiliency?	The network hosted infastructure should be setup for redundancy as a whole.
128	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government provide the number of uplinks that are required for the offeror to host data center network devices? Will the government clarify if the offeror should plan for 2, or more?	This is a broad question as the uplinks/configuration will be determined on the bidders response and proposed design.
129	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the governnment provide the IOS version that will be running on all Cisco devices?	No, these are determined by the contractor, but security guidelines require the latest version be used when possible and patched when appropriate. In general, all software must be no more than one major version behind the current generally available version.
130	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government provide the number of interfaces that are within each firewall?	Details regarding firewall configurations will be provided after award.
131	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government provide a current copy of the government's firewall ACLs, upon award to the successful offeror? It will be instrumental for the offeror to receive this prior to migration planning.	Yes.
132	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if there is a requirement to run load balancers in an active/active or active/passive configuration (assuming they are running in a paired configuration)?	Active/Active is to be used where possible; any exceptions must be approved by CMS.
133	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if all Vlan to Vlan traffic will pass through a firewall, or ifs L3 is routing between Vlans permitted on the switches?	Configurations must adhere to the CMS Technical Reference Architecture and the Acceptable Risk Safeguards guidelines.
134	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if the customer will be using its own public block of Ips, or is this assigned by the offeror?	It will be a mix as CMS will assign some public addresses for specific needs and the contractor will be required to provide IPAM internally for the HCQIS environment to include all QIO, ESRDs, Data center, etc.
135	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, if Pubic addresses will be assigned by the offeror, will the government provide the size of the required subnet?	This will be a mix as the contractor may be required to have a public address space to support external connectivity to HCQIS resources.
136	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government provide the size of the private (1918) subnet that is needed for this environment?	The awarded contractor will have access to current configurations but CMS expects that the awarded contractor will implement a solution that meets CMS requirements to support the HCQIS environment.
137	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if there is a need for dynamic routing?	There may be a requirement based upon the contractors recommended design.
138	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if a VPN connection is required for administrators to support the environment?	Management of the HCQIS environment can be supported locally through a management DMZ and remotely through VPN. There are many options for management, but any option used must be secure.
139	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if a data replication can be achieved by a Metro-E connection, or if a VPN solution is required?	CMS expects that the contractor will provide recommendation to achieve this.
140	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify the load balancing requirements (Round Robin, Least Connections, etc.)?	No, the contractor will determine the best load balancing configuration based on application requirements.
141	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if there will be any SSL offloading at the Load Balancer?	Yes.
142	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government clarify if registered domains will be moved to and managed by the hosting provider? If the Government is the registered domain provider, will the government clarify if the DNS servers are provided within this environment?	Yes, the external domains are managed by the hosting provider under the current model, however this may change in the future with direction from HHS on use of the TIC.
143	J-1_HIDS_SOW_04-21-14.docx	7, 8	Appendix C.C	With regard to Network hosted infrastructure, will the government provide the number of DNS entries that are currently registered in this environment?	There are currently 52,000 registered DNS entries.

This is the start of the file's text. The full file is on GovTribe.

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Nov 14, 2017.