NAVY MARINE CORPS INTRANET (NMCI)
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The Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) is an information technology (IT) services contract to provide reliable, secure, and seamless information services to the shore-based components of the Navy and Marine Corps. NMCI infrastructure and services will not extend to afloat or deployed units. It is required to support new processes and enable new initiatives such as knowledge management, distance learning, and telemedicine to improve the quality of life for Department of the Navy employees and support personnel. NMCI will provide IT services using a seat management contract that delivers comprehensive information services through a common computing and communications environment. Upgrades, modernization, and technology refreshment will occur over the NMCI contract life-cycle.
The architecture will support Navy and Marine Corps bases, camps, stations, and activities in the Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for an estimated 411,000 seats. The NMCI is not intended nor designed to provide direct support to Navy units afloat or deployed -- they are supported by the Defense Information System Network. However the NMCI will connect with and provide network access service to Navy ships docked in the NMCI-supported areas. It is currently anticipated that in order to meet the Service Level Agreements and provide service for the estimated user base, a total of 72 server farms, six Network Operations Centers and 2 Help Desk Centers will be required.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The NMCI initiative differs from a traditional DoD acquisition program, where typically a system is purchased and the government assumes configuration control and life-cycle maintenance responsibility. The NMCI contract is for the procurement of IT services (not systems) based on a commercial model of service level agreements. Under this model, the emphasis is placed on the verification, validation, and monitoring of the end-user services and not on the underlying infrastructure or systems.
Due to the large scale and complexity of the NMCI initiative, implementation will take several years to reach full operating capability.
TEST & EVALUATION ACTIVITY
The contractor, in conjunction with Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR), conducted a Baseline System Assessment in 2QFY01 on the existing IT configuration, including hardware, software, security and current performance levels at four Naval aviation sites. This data collection consisted of three qualitative surveys and a series of quantitative measurements. Although this is not strictly a test, the data collected will be referenced to measure improvements provided by NMCI.
The current test strategy for NMCI calls for a sequence of contractor test and evaluation (CT&E) events conducted by an agent of the contractor, followed by an OPEVAL. The developmental testing will evaluate the technical performance of the NMCI infrastructure at the component (phase 1), system (phase 2), and mission relation (phase 3) levels. At the conclusion of the third phase of the CT&E, an independent review team will perform an independent evaluation of the contractor test results.
Following the successful conclusion of contractor testing, an OPEVAL will be conducted by COMOPTEVFOR during 3QFY02 to assess the operational effectiveness and operational suitability of NMCI at five test sites: Naval Air Facility Washington, DC (NAFW); Naval Air Systems Command Headquarters, Patuxent River, MD (PAX); Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, CA; Naval Reserve Center (NRC) Lemoore, CA, and an aircraft carrier yet to be determined.
TEST & EVALUATION ASSESSMENT
The planned CT&E has experienced significant delays against the very optimistic and aggressive schedule. All three phases of CT&E were scheduled to be completed in CY01, but major difficulties were encountered during the initial software installation. A centralized distribution center is established for installing and upgrading workstation software. Unfortunately, during early site setup it was found that the site chosen for the distribution center was not well connected to the test sites over the early skeletal network. This caused significant delays in populating the test site workstations with system and application software. The second phase of CT&E slipped at least 6 weeks at NAFW, PAX, NAS Lemoore and NRC Lemoore, and the third and final phase of CT&E will not be completed and reported until mid-February 2002. The schedule impact upon the OPEVAL, which is currently planned for 3QFY02, is yet to be determined.
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