The Transition towards NMCI

a. Companies Involved

EDS, as the coordinator of the NMCI contract has assumed the responsibility for providing all assets and services needed to ensure the transmission of voice, video and data across DoN. In order to fulfill the requirements of the contract, EDS has formed a partnership with leading businesses in the domain of IT, under the title Information Strike Force (ISF). Their roles and responsibilities are as follows:

(www.nmci-isf.com (EDS-NMCI Team), accessed February 2004)

• EDS for overall service delivery

• Raytheon for security and information assurance

• MCI for the Wide Area Network (WAN)

• WAM! NET for Base Area Network (BAN)/ Local Area Network (LAN)/Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

• General Dynamics for the BAN/LAN/ MAN

• Robbins-Gioia for project scheduling

• Cisco for routers and switches

• Microsoft for software

• Dell for desktops, laptops, servers and enterprise storage systems

• Dolch for desktop and portable embarkables

• Dataline for voice services

• Hundreds of small businesses for help desk, network operations center and field services

b. The Plan Used

The transition to NMCI is divided into distinctive phases, resulting into an evolutionary process used to gradually transform USN and USMC sites from the previous IT environment towards NMCI. The idea is to:

• Adopt an incremental approach

• Leverage current contractors

• Use empowered, on-site teams

• Minimized disruptions to ongoing operations

Figure 17: Transitioning Sites into NMCI.

In more details the procedure and its supporting activity can be broken down as follows (www.nmci.navy.mil (Transition to NMCI), accessed February 2004)

Phase 1: Pre-AOR [Planning Phase]

The planning phase begins when DoN awards a task order for NMCI services to the ISF. During this phase, the ISF collects the information it needs for initial work force development and planning activities based on the total site order. Assumption of Responsibility (AOR) is defined as the date when responsibility for operating the "as-is" (current IT) environment, for work defined by the ordered NMCI CLINs, shifts from the government and its local contractors to the Information Strike Force (ISF). During this phase, ISF validation teams arrive

on the implementation location to begin collecting data and to coordinate long lead-time activities. The validation teams assess information technology and warehouse facilities, security accreditation, legacy applications, and WAN provisioning. The teams also begin to make detailed assessments of the Base Area Network/Local Area Network (BAN/LAN) and the existing desktop and server environments, and collect additional information on security hardware in order to finalize the NMCI design. The following means are used to coordinate activities:

• Preliminary Site Questionnaire (PSQ): Collection tool that assists commands in collecting required data prior to their transition to the NMCI environment. Includes detail about:

o Data Network Organization o Registered IP Addresses

o Current Network Infrastructure Components o Current Servers

o Wide Area Network (WAN) o Local Area Network (LAN)

o Legacy Software Applications (non-COTS) o COTS Software Applications

o Existing Hardware

o Trouble Call / Help Desk Support

o COMSEC

o Information Assurance o Contracting / Procurement

• AOR Checklist: Defines the actions required by ISF, the customer and the government Program Office to achieve ISF Assumption of Responsibility at a site.

• Site Concurrence Memorandum (SCM): Define the roles and responsibilities of the ISF and Navy Marine Corps organizations at individual sites for the accomplishment of transition to NMCI

• Government Furnished Facility (GFF) Checklists: Assess the suitability of proposed government-furnished facilities for use as server farms and supporting facilities, by the ISF team

• List of Potentially Impacted Federal Civilian Employees: (Self-explanatory)

• Contractor Ordering Process: Amplifying information on ordering NMCI services for government contractors who support the DoN

Phase 2: AOR to Cutover [Site Preparation]

During the site preparation phase, the ISF team completes the build out necessary for the operation of NMCI. Activities include furnishing, installing, and testing the NMCI site enterprise, and beginning infrastructure work in order to finalize implementation and cutover plans. The following tools are used during this phase:

• Cutover Checklist: The Cutover Checklist defines the actions required of all those involved to achieve start of Cutover to NMCI.

• Legacy Applications Transition Guide: Governs required actions for collecting detailed information on legacy applications prior to transitioning to NMCI.

o ISF Tools Web Site/IT Survey Tools & Related Files:

Legacy application information and application certification status information.

o Classified Legacy Applications Rationalized List Template: Guidance for submission of classified legacy applications.

o NMCI Legacy Applications Submissions Guide: Describes how to submit unclassified and classified application media for NMCI certification & validation testing.

o Engineering Review Questionnaires: Completed to facilitated accreditation process.

o NMCI Release Development & Deployment Guide:

Information and guidance to developers interested in migrating content, introducing new applications, or changing existing applications within NMCI.

Phase 3: Cutover [Site Transformation]

Cutover is the final major milestone in the NMCI transition process. It is that date when the ISF and government site personnel initiate the deployment of NMCI seats and services on site. Tools used to support the procedure are:

• Cutover Checklist: The Cutover Checklist defines the actions required to achieve start of Cutover to NMCI

• Workstation Migration:

o Ready Guide: overview of processes and procedures leading to the installation of NMCI seats and the software training programs available after installation

o Workstation Set Guides: Step-by-step instructions for the user to prepare the existing workstation for the rollout process

o Desktop User Share Guides: Assist in transferring the user file access available between Legacy workstations, called desktop user shares, to the networked environment of NMCI.

o Workstation Migration User Guide

• Legacy Microsoft Server Migration Guide: Establishment of strategy for integrating legacy application servers with NMCI.

• Remote Access Service Guides

• Outlook Web Access Users Guide

• NMCI Asset Disposal

Figure 18: Summary of the Activity to Transition towards an Operational Site with NMCI

Phase 4: Meeting SLAs-[Site Operational]

The building activity of the site, to include testing of the facility, has finished and the site is now under the EDS-ISF technical responsibility and support. The driver behind the operational concept is to conform to the SLAs that describe the desired level of services.