2024-0319 Operational Service Support (CTS) - WED 15 Jan

Deadline Date: Wednesday 15 January 2025

Requirement: Enterprise Directory Service – Operational Service Support

Location: Grazzanise, IT

Full Time On-Site: Yes

Time On-Site: 100%

Period of Performance: BASE period: 24th February 2025 – 31st December 2025 with the possibility to exercise following options:

2026 OPTION period: 1st January 2026 until 31st December 2026;

2027 OPTION period: 1st January 2027 until 31st December 2027

2028 OPTION period: 1st January 2028 until 31st December 2028

Required Security Clearance: NATO COSMIC TOP SECRET (See Section 7 Security)

1. INTRODUCTION

NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA) provides end-user services to customers throughout NATO. These end-users services are supported by NATO Enterprise Directory Services provided by the NATO Infrastructure Services Centre (NISC) Business Area of NCIA. All services provided by NCIA, regardless of whether they are end-user services or supporting services, are under the responsibility of Service Delivery Managers (SDM).

The NATO Infrastructure Service Centre (NISC) Business Area Lead (BAL) is accountable for planning and executing the full lifecycle management activities (design, transition and operations) for the identified area of responsibility. NISC provides generic, domain independent, technical functionality that enables and facilitates the operation and use of Information Technology resources. NISC services (including: subject matter expertise; acquisition; project management, operations and maintenance; and, disposal) are provided in the following technical domains: Network Services (to include routing, switching and transmission services), infrastructure hosting, storage and processing, infrastructure networking, HW and SW management, databases and web platform services, as well as identity management. Services are provided throughout the lifecycle to both internal and external customers in both static and deployable settings.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of this statement of work can be summarized as follows:

• Ensure high-quality, continuous support for DCIS service

• Provide continuous monitoring and pro-active administration of the DCIS service

• Develop and deploy iterative updates to the DCIS services, aligning with evolving business requirements.

This SOW covers the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of NATO Enterprise Directory Services across multiple security domains (NU, MS, NS).

3. SCOPE OF WORK

Support activities:

• Responsible for the delivery of 3rd level technical support for IT and Data Management Services in DCIS

• Performs fault diagnosis using the IT and Data Management Services Management System

• Supervises and carries out routine maintenance of IT and Data Management Services infrastructure, management appliances and other NATO IT and Data Management

Services equipment:

• Completes any changes to the system documentation

• Completes backups and restores of IT and Data Management Services devices

• Supervises the work undertaken by the FSP IT and Data Management Services Technicians

• Performs remote fault diagnosis on IT and Data Management Services as required

• Performs on the Job Familiarization with the Customer

• Collaborate with the stakeholders, both internal and externals, as necessary, to coordinate efforts and ensure smooth execution of software support and development activities

• Execute the processes of Incident Management, Change Management and Release Management, as required, following the NCIA procedures.

On-Call Support and Responsibilities:

• The Contractor’s personnel will participate in a rotation-based on-call system with the Purchaser’s staff

• On-call activities are considered delivery-based and part of the monthly sprint cycle

On-Call Rotation Schedule:

• The schedule will be defined during sprint planning and will outline who is responsible for on-call activities duties each week

• On-call shifts will cover critical issues outside the normal working hours

• The Contractor’s personnel would cover maximum 2 weeks per month.

On-Call Responsibilities:

• Responding to urgent incidents or requests during the designated on-call hours

• Resolving high-priority incidents to ensure minimal downtime and quick resolution

• Documenting any on-call activities, including actions taken to resolve issues

On-Call Deliverables:

• After each on-call day, a daily status report will be provided on a Purchaser provided SharePoint page containing the following information: Any Issue: Yes / No; Remarks: Summary of the issue and the fix provided.

• The daily report will be provided no later than 8:30 the following day.

• A summary of the issues handled and resolutions provided during the on-call period will be submitted at the end of the sprint.

The work shall be carried out in sprints whereby each sprint is independent. The work will be executed mainly onsite but some sprint will be offsite at other NATO locations. Remote work cannot be performed offsite since the nature and classification of the work which requires the contractor to be present at the office. Nevertheless, incidental requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

The contractor will be part of a team and will work using an Agile and iterative approach using multiple sprints. Each sprint is planned for a rough duration of 4 weeks. Services need to be provided during standard working hours of NCIA. The content and scope of each sprint will be agreed with the service delivery manager during the sprint-planning meeting, in writing.

Sprint planning

At the start of each sprint:

• A planning meeting will be held to define activities and goals for the sprint.

• The deliverables for the sprint will be clearly outlined, including any specific tasks, outputs and measurable objectives.

• On-call rotations and responsibilities will be defined for the upcoming sprint.

• Both parties must approve the planned activities before the sprint can begin.

4. PAYMENT MILESTONES AND DELIVERABLES

The following deliverables are expected from this statement of work:

1) Complete the activities/tasks agreed in each spring meeting as per sections 2 and 3 above.

2) Produce sprint completion reports (format: e-mail update), which include details of activities performed. Specifically, the resolved number of tickets will be broken down into number of Incidents, Service Requests (work orders), Change Requests, Tasks, and Requests for Information or Internal Activities, traceable through ITSM.

3) The Contractor will participate in the daily reporting and planning activities (daily stand-ups) as well as the required participation in workshops, events and conferences related to the supported services, as requested by the Service Delivery Manager or deputy.

Payment Schedule will be at the end of each sprint of four working weeks, following the acceptance of the sprint report.

The NCIA team reserves the possibility to exercise a number of options, based on the same scrum deliverable timeframe, at a later time, depending on the project priorities and requirements.

The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the sprint report and the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B) including the EBA Receipt number.

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (Annex B) signed by the Contractor and the NCIA POC.

4.1 2025 BASE: 02 January 2025 to 31 December 2025

Deliverable:  Up to 11 Sprints

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint after delivery acceptance sheet approval

2026 OPTION: 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint after delivery acceptance sheet approval

2027 OPTION: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint after delivery acceptance sheet approval

2028 OPTION: 01 January 2028 to 31 December 2028

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint after delivery acceptance sheet approval

5. COORDINATION AND REPORTING

5.1 The Contractor shall deliver services on-site at NCIA premises in Grazzanise Air Base (GAB), Italy.

5.2 The contractor shall report to the INF023 Service Delivery Manager (or deputy).

5.3 The Contractor shall participate in daily status update meetings, activity planning and other meetings as instructed, physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to Service Delivery Manager (or deputy) instructions.

5.4 For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of his/her work during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective meeting and then in writing, within three (3) working days after the sprint’s end date. A report in the format of a short email shall be sent to NCIA POC (Service Delivery Manager (or deputy)) briefly mentioning the work held and the achievements during the sprint.

6. SCHEDULE

This task order will be active immediately after signing of the contract by both parties.

6.1 The BASE period of performance is 24th February 2025 and will end no later than 31st December 2025

6.2 If the 2026 onwards option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2026 to 31st December 202

6.3 If the 2027 onwards option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2027 to 31st December 2027

6.4 If the 2028 onwards option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2028 to 31st December 2028.

7. SECURITY

7.1 Performance of the services described in this SOW require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement and obtain COSMIC TOP SECRET during the first year of the execution of deliverables under this SoW

7.2 The Contractor SHALL ensure that all the Contractor staff or anyone working under the remit of the Contractor requiring recurring access to on-site locations for the delivery of the services under this SoW, have a valid NATO Personal Security Clearance at least to the NATO COSMIC TOP SECRET level.

8. CONSTRAINTS

8.1 All the documentation provided under this statement of work will be based on NCIA templates or agreed with project point of contact

8.2 All scripts, documentation and required code will be stored under configuration management and/or in the provided NCIA tools.

9. PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

9.1 This is a deliverables-based contract

9.2 The contractor shall provide services On-site in Grazzanise Air Base (GAB), Italy. Exceptional off- site activities to support service delivery can also be arranged with the line manager and approval on sprint activities which do not require physical presence on-site.

9.3 There may be requirements to travel to other sites within NATO for completing these tasks

9.4 Travel costs are out of scope and will be borne by the NCIA separately in accordance to the provisions of the AAS+ Framework Contract

9.5 The work depicted in this SOW is to be performed by one contractor.

9.6 The contractor personnel need to be assigned at the beginning of the each sprint (decided in the Sprint Planning meeting) to be able to fulfil the agreed activities (I.e. in case there is a requirement for development activities, developers need to be assigned to the sprint).

10. QUALIFICATIONS

[See Requirements]

7. SECURITY

• 7.1 Performance of the services described in this SOW require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement and obtain COSMIC TOP SECRET during the first year of the execution of deliverables under this SoW

10. QUALIFICATIONS

The consultancy support for this work requires the following qualifications:

Technical Qualifications

At least 2 years’ experience in various areas of:

• Latest Virtualization Technologies and Operating Systems
• Implementation and troubleshooting Infrastructure Failover Clusters (Vmware and Microsoft)
• Latest Server, Storage, Client and Infrastructure Networking hardware technologies
• Antivirus Management Systems (i.e. McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator)
• Enterprise Systems Management services, methods and tools (i.e. SCOM, SCCM, SCVMM)

Experience in various areas of Software Engineering including some of the following:

• Email and collaboration services technologies (e.g. MS Exchange and Skype for Business)
• Cloud Computing Systems such as Microsoft Remote Desktop Infrastructure and VMware Horizon
• Design and implementation of Active Directory Federation Services in large enterprise environments
• WEP Portal Technologies and High Availability Database Systems (i.e. SQL Cluster)
• At least 1 year experience support by professional certification in the implementation and administration of COTS products such as MS Windows Server, Linux, Oracle, MS SQL, VMware, MS Hyper-V, MS SharePoint, MS Active Directory and Active Directory Federation Services, MS Exchange, MS Skype for Business, Client OS (Windows, Linux.)
• Configuration management practices and tools
• Knowledge of ITIL IT service management model
• Experience and applied knowledge of Service Transition
• Proven ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing with good briefing skills
• Strong and open communication skills
• Entrepreneur and strong networking skills
• Autonomous, problem-solver and drives towards results

Professional Qualifications

• Must have excellent spoken and written English communication and presentation skills, as demonstrated by recent experience (within the past 5 years)
• Excellent communication skills to effectively interact with users, team members and stakeholders
• Must demonstrate the ability and self-motivation to work on his/her own but must also work well within groups as part of a team
• Must demonstrate an ability and keen sense for problem-solving
• Motivated, good communication skills, team player
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision
• Knowledge of NATO responsibilities and organization.