S2EZ EPA
V7
Vol. 1
April, 1978
No. 2
PROCUREMENT
FOR THE 1980's
SAM BROWN
Director, National Computer Center
^ Operators and technicians huddle
around the main console of the U-1110
at the NCC.
The Project Management Office (PMO) is
currently developing a detailed acquisi-
tion plan for the 1980's. This plan for
future computer systems will contain not
only the milestone dates but the methods
to be used in the acquisition. The plan
should be approved by the management
around April 1. Major milestones are:
o The release of the RFP - 4/1/79
o The demonstration of the
vendor's capabilities - 8/1/80
o The final award - 9/1/81
o The conversion of the COMNET
workload - 7/1/82
o Total implementation - 6/1/83
The major problem currently facing the
PMO is obtaining adequate staffing to
support the program. We have conserva-
tively estimated that the program will
require 25-30 man-years. This estimate
is based on discussions with FEDSIM,
the Federal Office of Conversion, and a
review of the staffing requirements for
a number of agencies conducting similar
procurements. The success of the pro-
gram is dependent on early resolution
of this staffing problem. In the mean-
time, the PMO is using the manpower
that is available from MIDSD. A final
decision on staffing is anticipated in
April.
Most of the work required prior to the
issuance of the RFP in April 1979 will
be performed by the PMO. A general sys-
tem study must be performed to deter-
mine the design of the future system(s).
The benchmarks and demonstration philo-
sophies must be developed for incorpora-
tion in the RFP. In addition, a number
of studies required by the oversight
agencies, such as A-106 and A-108, must
be conducted before the RFP can be
issued.
In summary, the 1980's acquisition is at
a critical point. The next couple of
months will determine whether we will be
able to stay on schedule. Solvinp the
staffing dilemma remains paramount ."&
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DIRECTOR'S
CORNER
Willis Grccnstrect
One of the Carter administration's major
goals is to reorganize the Executive
Branch of the Federal Government. Most
of you are familiar with the efforts to
reform the Civil Service Commission, as
that has attracted significant press
attention. Another such reorganization
effort is focusing on ADP management
and its many ramifications.
I have been visited by four groups, each
with a specific interest in governmental
ADP: personnel, operations, procure-
ment, and science and technology. The
teams are normally composed of a senior
person from industry and several govern-
ment members. In general, they inter-
view from a questionnaire, attempting to
determine each agency's ADP management
methods and their strengths and weak-
nesses. Further, they are looking for
methods and ideas which can be trans-
ferred, as well as overall recommen-
dations. I have been generally im-
pressed with the attitude of the team
members and feel they have identified
the proper issues. I am impressed with
the quality of the industrial members
that are participating. I hope that they
find ways to decontrol the ADP acquisi-
tion process as many feel it entirely
too oppressive. I use the word "decon-
trol" as I feel that it is overcon-
trolled and not well-managed. I will
keep you informed as events progress in
this study.
We are entering an era of better service
from the two computer centers. At WCC,
the Data Center was above 95 percent
available in January and all trends
are favorable (MTBF - MTR, etc.) for
further modest improvements. The ad-
vance of Level 33 of the Univac opera-
ting system appears as of this writing
to have occurred successfully. (During
the planning for this conversion, we de-
cided on a D-Day approach in advancing
to Level 33. I kept wondering at which
beach we were going to land.)
The Communications Network has shown
striking improvement and is performing
more nearly to COMNET and our expecta-
tions. Everything is not perfect, but
you can reasonably expect this level of
service, with minor variations resulting
from component failures, in the future.
We will continue with our several con-
tractors and your assistance to make
improvements in the service. I am ex-
pecting, in the near future, to put in-
creased emphases and resources into the
application software management area of
our business. I welcome your thoughts
on where and how this can be done most
profitably."^
NATIONAL NETWORK STATUS
Fred Kastner,
Computer Specialist
COMNET has made considerable progress in
network stability and reliability this
quarter. They obtained the services of
an AT&T network manager who will coordi-
nate and supervise the circuit perfor-
mance and aid in problem-solving. AT&T
has also announced that the Denver-NCC
and WCC-NCC wideband circuits are avail-
able. A maintenance contract negotiated
by COMNET with Timeplex, Inc., actively
involves Timeplex in multiplexer main-
tenance and performance. COMNET con-
tinues to test the software which allows
1004-type RJE terminals access to NCC.
Users experiencing network stability
problems are urged to report them to
COMNET (800-424-8647 or 202-537-2611) or
to Fred Kastner at NCC (FTS 629-2931).&
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THE TRANSITION TO
1200 BAUD TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Fred Kastner
The popularity of 1200 baud data trans-
mission for the purpose of interactive
processing has grown considerably over
the last several years. The major ad-
vantage of this type of processing is
that it is obviously faster than the al-
ternative, i.e., 300 baud transmission.
While 300 baud support is normally suf-
ficient for input operations, the in-
creased data transmission speed offered
by 1200 baud support is particularly ad-
vantageous while in output mode, listing
output data lines or, more importantly,
while utilizing interactive graphics
packages.
For some time now numerous factors have
prevented the development of a standard
regarding NCC and WCC support of 1200
baud data transmission; however, the ma-
jor contributing factor, rapid techno-
logical changes in the modem industry,
seems to have reached a point whereby we
can now standardize support of 1200 baud
transmission requirements.
Data transmission at 1200 baud (120 cps)
is available in either half-duplex mode
(Bell 202 or compatible equipment such
as the Anderson-Jacobson ADAC 1200
acoustic coupler) or full-duplex mode
(VADIC 3400 or the new Bell 212 modem).
At NCC, 1200 baud support has been lim-
ited by modem interfaces to the half-
duplex mode, causing problems for NCC
users in that the host system cannot de-
tect when a user session terminates pre-
maturely (since an incoming signal does
not exist and cannot be monitored) and
that the user receiving output data can-
not break or interrupt the output.
Full-duplex 1200 baud support, on the
other hand, has neither of these limita-
tions and is becoming more popular and
available due to technological advance-
ments in the modem industry. The new
Bell 212 offering, along with the VADIC
3400, has made the full-duplex capabil-
ity very accessible and desirable. Users
are now able to select either the Bell
offering, available through local tele-
phone companies, or the VADIC 3400
modem. Availability and maintenance of
the full-duplex modems, formerly only
provided by VADIC, can now be provided
by local telephone companies due to the
Bell offering and associated tariffs.
Because of this, NCC and WCC plan to
eliminate half-duplex 1200 baud support
in the near future. This will allow
COMNET to reduce the number of different
telephone numbers currently used to sup-
port 1200 baud applications. COMNET cur-
rently provides two VADIC 3400 access
numbers and seven access numbers for
Bell 212 modems. While 1200 baud port
capacity at WCC is limited only by the
number of modems, NCC is currently lim-
ited to four simultaneous 1200 baud
users. WCC and NCC port capacity will
be increased as the need arises. Users
who have not already done so should re-
place their half-duplex modems or acous-
tic couplers with either the VADIC 3400
or the Bell 212 modem.(Anderson-Jacobson
has indicated that they are currently
designing a full-duplex 1200 baud acous-
tic coupler.) Questions regarding this
information should be directed to Fred
Kastner at NCC (FTS 629-2931).
EPA. Data Talk is published monthly by
the National Computer Center, Manage-
ment Information and Data Systems
Division, for EPA personnel and con-
tractors interested in general ADP
topics.
Comments and suggestions are solic-
ited and should be addressed to:
Editor, EPA Data Talk
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711
To ensure that our distribution list
is up-to-date, please indicate any
required changes on the mailing label
attached to this issue and mail it to
the above address.
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NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Ted Standish.
Region III ADP Branch Chief
Based on recent experiences with trans-
mitting the proposed regional management
guidance and with coordinating status
reports on the Model State Information
System (MSIS), I urge all regions and
headquarters offices to route data sets
among themselves. Based on the informa-
tion contained in the FY1979-FY1980 Zero
Based Budgeting (ZBB) Manual, the Office
of Planning and Management already plans
to disseminate time-critical materials
to regions using this method.
I am using this back-door approach to
improve coordination between regions and
between the regions and the headquarters
on matters of mutual interest. We
should all benefit from each other's
comments on proposed systems, technical
problems, management issues, etc. The
comments from other regions on proposed
systems for Region III have brought in
new ideas and have identified additional
concerns. As reported in the last issue
of Data Talk, the regions have agreed to
divide the responsibilities for respon-
ding to feasibility studies. Additional-
ly, the draft management guidance for
FY1979-FY1980 calls for increased coor-
dination and communication among the re-
gions. The use of data set distribution
is a relatively painless way to maintain
a minimum level of coordination.
As described in the information we pro-
vided on the MSIS status, the Office of
Drinking Water has set up a data set
specifying all known bugs and the status
of the corrective efforts. I urge all
regions to coordinate with the states
who have installed MSIS to send them
copies of the data set periodically. Al-
so, in addition to reporting suspected
bugs in the WCC version of MSIS to the
Office of Drinking Water and SWORCC, I
hope that the regions will inform each
other of these bugs so all can speedily
affect necessary avoidance actions.
On another front, Region III was the
first region to undertake a formal word
processing study and Region IV has also
been reviewed. As a result of the study
recommendations, Philadelphia examined
several shared-logic word processing
systems and went through a fairly elabo-
rate evaluation process. We chose to
install a Wang System 30 and it should
arrive by the time you read this arti-
cle. We are preparing a summary of our
study and will be most happy to share
our findings with interested persons.
Region III has also received Office of
Enforcement approval to continue a data
flow study of the Region's permit pro-
gram. The permit program will describe
the handling of all permit documents and
will be an integral part of the En-
forcement Management System. The study,
being conducted by Arthur Young and Com-
pany, will be available to all regions.
If you are interested in a copy, please
let us know so that we can obtain suf-
ficient numbers.
Items of interest in other regions are:
Region II has gone to a facili-
ties management contract under
Development , Management , and
Operation (DM&O) for the opera-
tion of their center.
Congratulations to Curt Lackey in
Region IV who, in view of posi-
tion ceilings, has creatively
augmented his staff by adding a
new daughter to his family. This
may be our best method of hand-
ling position crunches in the fu-
ture. (CongiatA! - Ed.)
Tom Yates, Management Division
Director in Region V, has select-
ed Jerry Miller as the new ADP
Branch Chief . Welcome to the
crowd. (CongJtatu£a£ionA to JeAAy,
an WCCeA mo.de good. -Ed.}
Jim Sims in Region VI has now
had a few weeks of experience as
ADP Branch Chief. I feel it is
only fitting that he and Jerry
be given the pleasure of our
company at another quiet, non-
controversial branch chief
meeting. I will contact all of
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the Regions and get suggestions
on time, place, and agenda.
Finally, the Management Informa-
tion and Data Systems Division
Director's office has undergone
a change in decor. It is a
"must see" the next time you are
at Headquarters.
Any items of interest sent to me for in-
clusion in Data Talk would be appreci-
ated. If you care to write an article
for Data Talk, please let me know. No
response on either option will force an
arbitrary and capricious decision as to
the next author.^T
DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE,
AND OPERATIONS CONTRACT
Frank Bullock, MIDSD
Computer Science Corporation (CSC) is
currently providing task assignment ser-
vices on 23 active tasks at a cost in
excess of one million dollars. During
January, CSC began work to complete the
balance of the system-level documenta-
tion of STORET; the Project Officer
rated CSC's performance of the initial
documentation task as excellent. Addi-
tionally, CSC started a quick-reaction
task to report all federally-owned
plants in the AEROS system file and to
convert a Penalty Calculation program
for processing at the NCC via the COM-
NET network. A quick-reaction task for
the implementation plan for storage and
retrieval of infrared spectra was com-
pleted.
CSC representatives attended the ORD ADP
coordinator's conference in Cincinnati,
Ohio, to present the provisions of the
DM&O Contract. DM&O staff members sup-
porting Region V in Chicago completed a
course in INFORM, a data base management
system implemented on PDP 11/70.
All readers are reminded that the DM&O
contract is available to the entire EPA
ADP user community. Users needing addi-
tional information about the contract
should contact the DM&O project officer,
Frank Bullock (PM-218) on (202) 755-
4936. Also contact the CSC project di-
rector, Sid Stein, for informal liaison
on (703) 533-8877.&
<} A view of the rear of the EPA
Environmental Research Center
located in RTF.
"OOPS"
The
error
March issue of Data Talk
where it
was in
that the
indicated
third ORD ADP Workshop would be held
in March. The Workshop is scheduled
for May 10, 11, and 12 at the Envi-
ronmental Research Laboratory in
Athens, Georgia.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WCC
Ken Byran,
Technical Operations Branch
Here is a rundown of activities at the
WCC which might be of interest to the
wider ADP community:
System reliability climbed to 95.6
percent, remaining above 95 percent for
the second consecutive month.
Circuit and telecommunication equip-
ment testing over the last two months
has resulted in substantial improvements
in network reliability.
V Trouble reporting procedures have
been streamlined and should be more re-
sponsive to user calls.
V Archiver runs in February and March
removed 2,800 data sets from on-line
packs. Since the Archiver began oper-
ation in November, space equivalent to
six 3330 Mod II packs has been made
available.
The COMNET systems programming
group, working with the EPA Systems Re-
view Council, announced a number of
software enhancements which will be im-
plemented before the end of June.
USER/SUPR, a system for reporting
problems and enhancement requests, is
currently tracking over 100 items.
Status information is available to all
users in an on-line data set.
A pilot project on benefits avail-
able through production Job Stream Opti-
mization using the GIGS system was com-
pleted. The results were impressive:
for example, an average reduction in
computer utilization units of 23 percent
for the four major update programs.
Along with the optimization, several
changes will make the update more regu-
larly successful on the nights it is
scheduled. The update was made more
tolerant of system failures and restart
procedures were documented so COMNET
personnel on-site could restart the run
should it be interrupted.
Binders for the WCC newsletter,
SIGNON, were distributed with the Febru-
ary issue, allowing users to maintain
their own file of past issues.
This Remote Job Entry
(RJE) facility, located
at the Michaux Building
just outside RTP,
contains a card reader,
line printer, and
keypunch. Such RJE
facilities may be
located many miles from
the NCC, yet users can
process batch runs and
receive printer output
as though the computer
were in the next room.
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WHY TRAINING IN ADP?
Maureen Johnson,
Computer Specialist
Much time and effort over the past sev-
eral years has been devoted to talking,
reading, and writing about the ADP
training needs of the Agency. Why all
this concern about ADP training? The
Agency is certainly very committed to
ADP and dependent on its ADP capabili-
ties. Agency requirements range from
research to implementation plans to en-
forcement. And ADP dependency is re-
flected in the Agency's annual expendi-
tures for ADP equipment, software, and
contracts. Considering this commitment,
dependency, and continuing expansion,
perhaps the most important impetus be-
hind ADP training is the rapid change
and development of new ADP technology
which results in knowledge obsolescence
in less than three years.
What is achieved by improving ADP
training programs? Improved, up-to-date
training could improve the quality of
software, reflecting better design and
maintenance features. Contract manage-
ment would become more consistent and
effective if managers were exposed to
new ADP planning techniques and develop-
ment procedures. Data quality would im-
prove through instruction of new vali-
dation methodologies. The "end users"
would become more involved in software
development planning if they understood
what to expect from new software. In-
creased awareness of the impact of ADP
on the Agency's missions would result in
effective planning and allocation of
personnel, finances, and physical ADP
resources.
To accomplish these and other ends, fif-
teen training areas have been identified
as follows:
ADP Project Management
Executive Management Seminar
EPA ADP Timesharing Utilization
and Cost Reports
System Development Cycle and
Feasibility Studies
Facilities and Services
ADP Procurement
Structured Design and Programming
Distributive Processing
Managing ADP Contracts
Data Base Management
Data Security/Privacy
ADP Concepts
Data Analysis
Data Validation
Human Engineering Approach
to Design
These areas will be addressed beginning
with plans for a two-week Structured
Design and Programming course (Micheal
Jackson Methodology) in early May. This
will be followed by Executive Management
Seminars, Project Management and the
System Development Cycle, and ADP Con-
cepts courses which will be presented at
multiple locations throughout the sum-
mer ,-^t
A technician, sitting at an inter-
active printing terminal, studies
the computer's response to her
input.
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Barring unexpected,
unavoidable system
failures, the U-1110 at
the National Computer
Center is up and active
24 hours a day, every
work day, and often runs
well into the weekend to
process backlogged work.
The system can handle
60-70 interactive ter-
minals simultaneously,
yet each user at each
terminal can operate as
though he were the sole
user of the system.
UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park
North Carolina 27711
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, S3OO
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-335
THIRD CLASS
BLK RT.
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