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.