Description
RECOVERY - THIS ACTION IS FUNDED BY THE RECOVERY ACT. THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY. This opportunity is available only from our existing Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with IBM, under GSA Federal Supply Schedule Contracts GS-35F-4984H and GS-35F-0069P. SSA non-competitively awarded BPA Number SS00-08-40004 to IBM for ISeries Hardware, Software and Support Services. The Social Security Administration intends to issue a firm fixed price call order against the existing BPA to IBM. SSA will acquire disks, memory, I for Business operating systems, racks, miscellaneous input/output features, (e.g. Ethernet adapters, removable media adapters, modern adapters) and fibre tape drive sleds. This call order is a result of the hiring of 2,700 new full time employees for the State Disability Determination Sites (DDS) therefore the IBM ISeries servers must be upgrade to accommodate the increased workload. This procurement will be for upgrades to the following DDSs: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington state and Wisconsin. IBM will be supplying the iSeries hardware and software that the DDS require in order to operate their legacy systems, which enables the DDS employees the ability to process disability claims. Upgrades must take into consideration all the moving pieces of Electronic Disability process and must meet the needs of the DDS. The iSeries is part of the DDS critical path to ensure that disability claims can be processed and adjudicated in a timely fashion for the American Public. IBM has been the sole source provider of the iSeries hardware and software since the inception of BPA SS00-08-40029. Their past performance enables IBM to understand the following conditions with none to minimal impact on all State and Federal DDSs: (1) Nationwide/ enterprise-wide support services for the current and evolving IBM iSeries infrastructure at all State and Federal DDS locations without any change or disruption to the current infrastructure; (2) Products that can integrate into the current IBM iSeries infrastructure at all State and Federal DDS locations without substantial change or disruption to the current infrastructure; (3) IBM proprietary software products, licenses, and/or maintenance for those products at all State and Federal DDS locations without any change or disruption to the current infrastructure;(4) Training in Agency use of IBM iSeries hardware, peripherals, and software at all State and Federal DDS locations without any change or disruption to the current infrastructure; (5) Associated additional services (such as expert trouble-shooting, PM/400, Alert and Account Advocate) at all State and Federal DDS locations without any change or disruption to the current infrastructure; (6) State and Federal DDSs constraints in which IBM iSeries must adhere to, i.e., production times and available windows for backups; (7) DDSs hardware and software infrastructure and environment in which the IBM iSeries must operate under. It is imperative that the State and Federal DDS Legacy Systems, i.e., Versa, IronData and MIDAS, be up and running without interruption on the IBM iSeries; and (8) SSAs architecture, infrastructure and environment in which all State and Federal DDSs must comply with in order to ensure the continuous flow of data and claims processing. This includes the various SSA software and databases that must communicate and interact together. In addition, the IBM platform is proprietary and the IBM Corporation is the only source from which to obtain software code revisions, software version updates, and technical software application support.