HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE

Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT/Canada-Peru
FTA/Canada-Colombia FTA
Tendering Procedures: 
Attachment: None
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
IBM Canada Ltd.
340 Albert Street
16th Floor, Suite 1610
Ottawa Ontario
Canada
K1R7Y6
Nature of Requirements: 
PLEASE NOTE as of April 12, 2012,  the equipment list is
available upon request in PDF format. 



HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE

W8474-126017/A

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community
that a department or agency intends to award a contract for
goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier,
thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in
bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities.  If no
supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the
requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date
stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed
with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

Definition of requirement
The Department of National Defence (DND) has a requirement for
maintenance and support on an extensive infrastructure of
hardware and system software, comprised of servers, storage,
telecommunications interfaces to the Departmental Wide Area
Network (WAN), and ancillary equipment.  This equipment hosts
many National Level application systems, many of which are
situated in the Defence Enterprise Server Centres (DESC) located
in Data Centre Borden (DCB) at Canadian Forces Base (CFB)
Borden, Data Centre Ottawa (DCO) at Tunney's Pasture and other
core buildings in the National Capital Region. 

This entire infrastructure is comprised of multiple mainframe
processors; many dozens of UNIX servers; hundreds of discrete as
well as virtualized Intel/Microsoft Windows-based servers;
several discrete on-line disk storage sub-systems using
native-disk, RAID, and SAN technologies; several discrete
robotic tape libraries; and a state-of-the-art network
interfacing environment for both back-end server-to-storage
interconnection and front-end server-to-WAN interconnection. The
National Level application systems use a variety of different
server operating systems, and require a high-availability
infrastructure in terms of both hardware and system-software
that approaches a continuous twenty-four hour/seven day a week
(24/7) degree of service. Accordingly, the associated hardware
and software maintenance must be available and responsive to
urgent restoration of service on a 24/7 basis with on-site
response and most parts available within two hours of a call
being placed. Consequently, certain components of these
application systems requiring 99.99% availability, 24/7, 365
days a year. Other components have been designated as requiring
a reduced level of availability. 

As there is extensive interaction amongst virtually all of the
Subsystems, the Contractor must be capable of working within a
multi-vendor environment in which even the maintenance for
different instances of the same equipment may sometimes be
covered by a number of separate maintenance/warranty agreements.
In these cases, the Contractor must be capable of assuming prime
responsibility for repair and maintenance for both hardware and
software environments. The Contractor shall be capable of
providing help desk facilities to support and report on all
vendor equipment and software. Monthly reports will be required
detailing all calls placed and actions taken, for all vendor
hardware and software components.

The Contractor must, at all times during the performance of the
Contract, hold a valid Facility Security Clearance at the level
of SECRET, issued by the Canadian and International Industrial
Security Directorate (CIISD), Public Works and Government
Services Canada (PWGSC).  The Contractor personnel requiring
access to PROTECTED/CLASSIFIED information, assets or sensitive
work site(s) must be a citizen of Canada and EACH hold a valid
personnel security screening at the level of SECRET, granted or
approved by CIISD/PWGSC.

It is proposed to issue a Contract to IBM Canada Limited of
Ottawa, Ontario, as it is the only proprietary sole source
provider,  with the technical expertise to provide the required
maintenance and support for the systems to be covered under this
agreement.  The maintenance and support of DND entire hardware
stack and associated software and specific to the hardware
microcode, for example mainframe microcode.

The deliverables include:

- Help desk facilities;
- Preventive and remedial maintenance;
- System management;
- System engineering; and 
- Related Information Technology (IT) services on an "as and
when requested" basis.

Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities

Minimum Essential Requirements
Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement
of capabilities that its product/equipment/system (as
appropriate) meets the following requirements:
(Summarize the essential functional characteristics or, if
necessary to properly define the goods, the physical or design
characteristics, and describe any requirements for
interchangeability with existing systems or equipment. Also
include to the extent possible performance or output criteria.
If applicable, refer to recognized Canadian or international
standards, specifications, and/or regulations).

The requirement is subject to the Agreement on Internal Trade
(AIT); the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and the
World Trade Organization - Agreement of Government procurement
(WTO-AGP). It is not subject to the provisions of the
Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements (CLCAs) because the
services will not be provided in any of the settlement areas.

In accordance with Article 6, paragraph (d) of the GCRs, a
contract may be entered into without soliciting bids where only
one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.  As
per Article XV, paragraph (a) of WTO-AGP, limited tendering
provisions apply "in the absence of tenders in response to an
open or selective tender, or when the tenders submitted have
been collusive, or not in conformity with the essential
requirements in the tender, or from suppliers who do not comply
with the conditions for participation provided for in accordance
with this Agreement, on condition, however, that the
requirements of the initial tender are not substantially
modified in the contract as awarded".  Similar provisions for
limited tendering exist under NAFTA Article 1016, paragraph 2(a)
and AIT Article 506, paragraph 11(f).

The proposed contract is for a period of two years, from May 1,
2012 to April 30, 2014 with three one-year option periods.

Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:
Name:       IBM Canada Ltd.
Address:   340 Albert Street
	     16th Floor, Suite 1610
	     Ottawa, Ontario  K1R 7Y6

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the goods, services or construction services
described in the ACAN, may submit a statement of capabilities in
writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or
before the closing date of this notice. The statement of
capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the
advertised requirements.

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Eleanor Cesare
Supply Officer
Services and Technology Acquisition Management Sector
11 Laurier Street, Place du Portage, Phase III
4C2, Gatineau, Quebec  KlA 0S5
Tel. (819) 956-1103
Fax. (819) 956-5078
E-Mail:  eleanor.cesare@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca




Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate
with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any
questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting
officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and
agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15)
calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it
intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a
pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or
before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets
the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority
may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of
Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the
ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full
tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a
statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person
identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this
Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate
how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the
closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the
envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile
transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.