By Jeff Erlichman

MTIPS, Cloud Computing, Network Hosting Centers and E-MORRIS are  infrastructure areas where Networx is part of the story.

The Networx program’s support systems are as comprehensive and as sophisticated as the services offered on the contracts.  GSA’s experienced and highly expert technical team is uniquely capable of developing the tools necessary to support network services programs. Here are just a few of the infrastructure areas where Networx is playing or will play a key role.

GSA Provides MTIPS

The Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS) was developed to enable agencies to meet the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) initiative (M-08-05).

TIC is basically a framework that defines the way in which government agencies interact with the Internet going forward.  It addresses a major challenge that the OMB defined in the federal space and provides for the reduction, consolidation, and standardization of the number of Internet connections from over 5,000 in 2007 to less than 100 by the end of 2010, which is the goal.

MTIPS facilitates that reduction of Internet connections in government networks and provides standard security services to all government users said Frank Tiller, director, Service Development Division at GSA, Network Services.

MTIPS is a simple orderable service that fully implements the TIC initiative critical requirements (OMB M-08-16) and offers an easy solution path for agencies "Seeking Service" from a Networx TIC Access Provider (TICAP).

The MTIPS pricing structure consists of: Port + Access + SEDs (Equipment). The Port charges are Monthly Recurring (MRCs) with no installation fees.

Right now Tiller said MTIPS will include an Einstein 2 Enclave – with passive detection capability. When Einstein 3 is ready it will be added. Einstein is the network monitoring tool used by DHS to automatically monitor and analyze Internet traffic when it moves in and out of federal computer networks, filtering packets at the perimeter.

Tiller said MTIPS services also include Security Operations Centers (SOC) for agency protection, transport services from agency WAN to TIC portal and redundant Internet access services.

GSA has awarded MTIPS to the following Networx vendors: AT&T, Qwest, Sprint, and Verizon. For additional information, visit the Networx Document Library www.gsa.gov/networx .

Networx Provides Cloud Computing Services Now

“We are looking for ways to take advantage of the technologies that will provide the most efficient, cost effective and appropriate network solutions for government.  Virtualization, cloud computing and Web 2.0 tools are all part of the complete solution,” GSA director of Network Services Karl Krumbholz said.

“Many of these tools are already either specifically available or are within scope of our current contracts.  Some and are being implemented by GSA to meet its own requirements.”

Krumbholz said that the GSA-managed website www.usa.gov has already been moved to a cloud computing environment. Casey Coleman the GSA CIO, with support from the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is the GSA lead on cloud computing.  Coleman issued an RFI in May 2009 and on July 30 GSA issued Solicitation Number: GSOOT085BA0027. According to the document, “this special notice identifies GSA's outline of requirements for NIST FIPS 199 defined Low and Moderate mpact Cloud Computing (CC) Software as a Service (SaaS) offering.”

“We are also looking into an appropriate role for Networx to play in the procurement of cloud computing.  In particular, we are looking at how Networx may support the provisioning of network infrastructure as a service with the added security provided by the Networx contracts,” explained Krumbholz. “To us, this is a logical extension of the hosted services we already have under contract from the Networx service providers.”

Some of the services described as “cloud” services are currently offered on Networx and all are within scope of the contract.  Those that are currently on the contract include:  dedicated hosting, co-located hosting, application hosting, and content delivery networks can be ordered from our Networx carriers today. 

Those that are within scope, to include infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and software as a service can be ordered after completing a statement of work. 

Krumbholz said as agency requirements become more clearly defined GSA will add more orderable services to the contracts to make them easy for agencies to buy.  Networx offers agencies the ability to acquire these services within a fully secure, fully managed infrastructure from our world class carriers. 

“We are also looking into an appropriate role for Networx to play in the procurement of cloud computing,” added Krumbholz. 

“In particular, we are looking at how Networx may support the provisioning of network infrastructure as a service with the added security provided by the Networx contracts.  To us, this is a logical extension of the hosted services we already have under contract from the Networx service providers.”

Another question will be how Networx will mesh with GSA plans to launch an online storefront that agencies can use to purchase computing services that are stored and maintained by third-party providers that was recently announced by federal CIO Vivek Kundra.

Networx Hosting Center Created

The Networx program has eight large and complex contracts that average over forty services each with millions of unit prices.  In response to the initial need to manage the evaluation of the Networx proposals and the subsequent need to manage awarded Networx contracts, GSA created the Network Hosting Center (NHC). 

“The NHC provides GSA the ability to securely manage the transmission of contractor submitted contract modification and deliverables, track the government processing of these submissions, and manage storage for all integrated contracts and prices with instant access available authorized users,” explained Krumbholz.

Following the award of Networx contracts, the Networx Pricers were created to provide customers convenient web-based access to the millions of Networx prices – efficiently producing accurate price comparison analysis. 

The tools include:

*Public Unit Price – finds current year unit prices and totals for services across all vendors.  Available to agencies, vendors, and general public at https://releasedprices.networx.gov

*Agency Unit Pricer – finds current and future year unit prices and totals for services across all vendors.  See the Networx Document Library at www.gsa.gov/networx for authorization procedures and forms.

*Agency Inventory Pricer – calculates total price of agency inventory (Jan 2008) with current and future year prices.  See the Networx Document Library at www.gsa.gov/networx for authorization procedures and forms.

The Pricers empower agencies with full pricing visibility across multiple vendors and contracts, simplify the contractor selection process, allow scenario planning to improve quality of service, improve budget estimates and cost forecasts to reduce risk, and assist in validating invoices according to Krumbholz.

Networx Support System Uses “E-MORRIS” Capability

GSA’s Enhanced Monthly On-Line Records and Reports of Information-Technology Services (E-MORRIS) system was developed by GSA in a highly successful partnership with the Department of Agriculture to manage the services ordered under the Networx telecommunications contracts. 

It is a follow-on capability to MORRIS, which is the billing system that supports FTS2001.  This complex management tool was developed on schedule and provides significantly more capability for Agencies than its predecessor. 

“E-MORRIS provides Networx customers a variety of easy to use reports and tools for administering their telecommunications billing activities, managing their internal budgets, and for the first time, tracking their inventory,” said Krumbholz. . 

“These new capabilities have been created in direct response to customer requirements.  The web site employs Oracle database and Fusion technology to provide the highest levels of security, reliability and performance.”

Krumbholz explained that the E-MORRIS web site offers many new features that expand and simplify access to Networx service information. 

Agencies have access to a searchable inventory of service orders and various reports and tools to explore their service costs.  A number of standard billing and inventory reports are available for easy viewing in a web browser.  These standard reports have searching, paging and sorting capabilities, for quick access to information. 

Also, interactive web tools allow users to create customized reports which they can save and reuse.  The reports can be saved in various formats, including PDF and RTF, for ease of printing and transportation.  Reports can also be downloaded in several file formats for easy importing into other applications.

The E-MORRIS web site offers agencies a distributed user identity management capability. This allows agencies to create their own user communities, using rules that they establish and maintain.  Agency administrators can then use browser tools to manage the registration of users, and the assignment of roles and access rules to their users.  Agencies can effectively control their own web site, while enjoying the data analysis features provided by GSA.