Social Security Administration, Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1710 Gwynn Oak Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21207-5279

70 -- REDESIGNING EXISTING ILEVY APPLICATION SOFTWARE SOL Reference-Number-MFK-00-ILEVY DUE 120999 POC Marcia Katz, Contract Specialist, Phone 4109659477, Fax 4109659560, Email marcia.katz@ssa.gov WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=R&;ProjID=Reference-Num ber-MFK-00-ILEVY&LocID=2422. E-MAIL: Marcia Katz, marcia.katz@ssa.gov. Under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (42 USC 402 and 416), the Social Security Administration (SSA) mandates a Disability Determination Service (DDS) in each state to perform determinations of disability for the residents of that state who file for Social Security disability benefits. Each DDS, although an agency of the state government, is entirely federally funded and performs services subject to regulatory authority of SSA. In addition to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territorial governments of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have established DDS entities. SSA has also established a Federal DDS, which, among other functions, serves as a test bed of policy and procedure for the disability program. The organizational placement of the DDS within the state or territorial government varies according to local conditions. The DDS agency in most states is located in a single geographic site, generally the state_s capital city. However, several states have established two or more DDS regional offices reporting to a central administrative office. There are approximately 117 DDS sites nationally. DDS sites are diverse in size, ranging from two to 875 staff, although most fall in the 35 to 350 range. Over the years, each DDS has developed automated tools to facilitate processing the federally mandated workload. Most states use a minicomputer running vendor-developed COBOL application software, in combination with state-developed software applications and utility programs and varying levels of maintenance or supplementation. Personal computers or fixed-function terminals proprietary to the minicomputer architecture are provided to most DDS staff. A local area network connects the personal computers in most DDS sites. (All DDS sites will have local area networks in the near future.) The most prevalent types of minicomputers are the Wang VS (found in 27 states), the IBM AS/400 (20 states) and the Hewlett-Packard 3000 (3 states). The model of minicomputer within the manufacturer_s product line varies by size of the agency and age of the system. SSA plans to standardize the platforms in the DDSs to the maximum extent practicable. Because many states using Wang systems were at the limits of the capacity and growth potential of their systems, SSA has decided to standardize on the IBM AS/400 platform. The states using Wang systems all use licensed proprietary software developed by iLevy and Associates. Each Wang state licenses this software from iLevy and Associates using contracts specific to that State and has State maintenance agreements with the vendor to support the code. In addition, each State has, by necessity and choice, customized the code to meet their specific requirements. The current lines of code vary from state to state, depending on the degree of customization and the interface to the state_s systems, but a representative estimate is approximately 1,000,000 lines of code per state. SSA is seeking a contractor who can migrate the existing iLevy code and data structures to take advantage of the full range of capabilities of the AS/400 product line and the iLevy software. SSA will not provide the iLevy source code. SSA plans to migrate four to six states to the AS/400 platform per year. The application software of 26 of the 27 DDSs using Wang hardware must be migrated to the AS/400, including all of the functionality which exists in their current iLevy software, and all of the state-specific customizations and functions which have been built for them. The new application must preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the specific user interfaces and user screen presentations which exist in the current DDS systems, so as to minimize potential work flow impact and the need for user retraining. This migration must begin by April 2000 and must be completed by the end of calendar year 2004. The migration must allow for a gradual transition from the current platform to the new platform. It will be necessary to continue to maintain the Wang system code during the migration. Data must be synchronized between both systems during the transition and ongoing synchronization should be available as long as relevant data remains on the Wang system. Synchronization needs to be compatible with various third party vendor applications, such as facsimile forms creation. Data synchronization should occur with sufficient frequency as to preserve daily case processing workflow. Vendors having the capability and experience to provide such a service are invited to submit complete details. The details must include the following: Demonstrated success in writing and supporting COBOL applications on both the Wang VS and IBM AS/400 platforms; Experience in migrating applications from one hardware platform to another; A detailed explanation of the strategy that will be used in dealing with iLevy_s proprietary code and data structures as applications are written and the code is migrated; and, A detailed explanation of the strategy that will be used in synchronizing data betweenthe two systems during the transition. Responses must clearly state the ability to provide the service required. Interested parties must respond to this notice in writing within 15 calendar days from the date of this publication. Please refer to MFK-00-iLevy. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY! This is not a request for proposal (RFP). No contract award will be made on the basis of responses received; however, this information will be used in SSA's assessment of capable sources. The Government does not intend to pay for information received. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF A SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE HONORED OR ACKNOWLEDGED. Posted 11/23/99 (D-SN402970). (0327)

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