EPA
Vol. 2
July/August
No. 4
CONGRESSIONAL AND GSA STAFF VISIT Sam Brown. HCC Director
Mr. Jim Lewin, Senior ADP staff member
for the House Government Operations
Committee (HGOC), chaired by Repre-
sentative Jack Brooks, visited the
National ADP Service Center (NADPSC) at
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on
June 29, 1979. Accompanying Mr. Lewin
were George W. Dodson, Jr., Assistant
Commissioner for Automated Data Manage-
ment Services, GSA, and two of his staff,
G.W. Parks and Irene Bayol. Representa-
tive Brooks is the author/sponsor of the
"Brooks Bill" which governs ADP procure-
ment in the federal government. The pur-
pose of the visit was to review the
status of EPA's Major ADP System Acquisi-
tion and Implementation Program (SAIP)
and to discuss the Delegation of Procure-
ment Authority to EPA for that acquisi-
tion and EPA's transitional requirements
until that program is completed.
Mr. Samuel C. Brown, NADPSC Director, and
Mike Steinacher, Deputy Program Manager
for the Major Acquisition, met with the
HGOC and GSA representatives. Mr. Brown
briefed them on the ADP management struc-
ture of NADPSC including the staffing and
grade structure of the various branches,
use of consultants, legal council avail-
ability, procurement and contract support
availability, analytic capability in the
program, and physical location with
emphasis on security and privacy. The
briefing also included the management
initiatives begun in 1978 with a two-
to three-year plan for completion. The
general plan is to centralize ADP ser-
vices in RTP, N.C. and strengthen the
programmatic issue analysis/policy and
budget coordination capability in
Washington, D.C. The briefing provided
additional detail on the management
initiatives accomplished thus far in the
centralization of ADP services. These
included:
• Data Center Management central-
ization under the Data Center
Branch, NADPSC
• Establishment of the Major Ac-
quisition Branch, NADPSC
• Establishment of the National
ADP Institute
• NADPSC Building Expansion for
ADP equipment and personnel
• Pilot Projects concerning
application development under a
Software Development Center
concept. The pilots included:
- Personnel Management In-
formation System
- Design of Hazardous Waste
System
- Test/Acceptance of the
Federal Reporting Data
System for Drinking Water
- Several systems costing
under $100K for total
development
The briefing covered the general points
from the "Dr. Richard Nolan Study," and
FY80-FY82 staffing and management initia-
tives to address improved management of
ADP.
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Mr. Steinacher presented a status review
of the Major Systems Acquisition and
Implementation Program including efforts
on the competitive concept development
cycle, total life-cycle cost,
reliability/availability objectives,
current contracted resources and expira-
tion dates, workload growth projections,
the acquisition timetable, budgetary
plans, and ADP requirements during the
transition to the resources provided by
the Program.
An extensive discussion preceded general
agreement on a revised acquisition plan.
The revised plan was submitted to GSA on
July 3, 1979. A formal Delegation of
Procurement Authority (DPA) was issued to
EPA/NADPSC on July 6, 1979 for SAIP and
the associated transitional requirements.
The SAIP revised acquisition plan and DPA
contain pre-procurement information not
available to the public. Thus, further
detail cannot be provided in this
article. The material has been declared
unavailable under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act.
However, EPA now has a formally approved
acquisition program and will aggressively
pursue execution of the plan.
MIDSD ANNOUNCES PLANS
FOR FOURTH ANNUAL
ADP CONFERENCE
Vic Cohen
MIDSD is now making plans for its fourth
annual ADP Conference. The Conference
week has been tentatively scheduled to
begin on November 5 at the Sheraton Inn
at Southern Pines', North Carolina. A
major departure from previous years is
the inclusion of user group meetings
during the ADP Conference week. In
addition to the casual regional caucus,
Financial and Personnel representatives
from around the Agency will hold their
respective meetings.
The Conference topics identified to date
are: results of the ADP Management
Study, ADP Security, Training, the new
DM&O approach, administrative systems,
and the working relationships between the
State and National data base systems.
Representative Jack Brooks, author of the
"Brooks Bill," has been invited as
keynote speaker.
Even though the plans for the Conference
have yet to gel completely, we are making
this preliminary announcement in the hope
that you will leave the first part of
November open. Look for further
announcements and details in upcoming
issues of £P_A. Data Talk and
MULTIPEN GRAPHICS WITH
INTEGRATED PLOTTING
PACKAGE
George Nossa, Planning and
Management Division, New York
The Planning and Management Division has
implemented an enhanced version of the
Integrated Plotting Package (IPP) which
allows users to produce CALCOMP plots
using three pens. This version of
IPP was made available courtesy of
Dr. Douglas Ashbrook of the National
Institute of Health in Bethesda,
Maryland, who also provided valuable
advice during the implementation. The
software is operational and is being used
to develop maps locating various types of
facilities (such as industries, land-
fills, impoundments, etc.) which affect
environmental quality.
Our implementation is specific for users
of the WCC facility via a DATA 100 Remote
Job Entry Terminal and a CALCOMP plotter
connected to a 906 On-line Controller.
The software is resident on the System
Procedure Library at WCC so that users
can simply link, through FORTRAN appli-
cations, to this new version of IPP. The
graphics can be produced "online" or can
be written to a magnetic tape unit on the
DATA 100 for later processing in local
mode.
We have documentation on the use of these
capabilities as well as the steps neces-
sary for initial installation (required
for a different type of CALCOMP plotter
controller than the one mentioned above).
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Those interested are invited to request
these documents in writing. Our address
is: U.S. EPA Region II, Data Systems
Branch, Room 404, 26 Federal Plaza,
New York, New York 10007.
NCC HIGHLIGHTS
Tom Rogers
Stability on the NCC Univac 1100
system during June was as good as any
previous month of operation. Only eight
system failures occurred during the en-
tire month. This level of stability is
even more extraordinary when considering
the continuing installation of hardware
modifications to existing equipment and
implementation of another 8433 disk
subsystem.
Implementation of the new 8433 disks
was accomplished with no negative system
stability impact. The three 8440 disk
subsystems have been removed and replaced
by 8433 disks. All fixed disks (16
spindles) are now on the 8433 systems.
^[ Visually this has been the most pro-
gressive period in the entire NCC con-
struction phase. The outside walls are
finished except for some pre-poured con-
crete trim pieces to be placed at the top
of the building. The entire first floor
and adjacent halls have been poured, thus
completing the floors for the entire
building. The only major exterior work
will be the bricking of two "knock-out"
panels in the front wall.
EPA Data Talk la published bimonthly
by the National Computer Center, Man-
agement Information and Data Systems
Division, for EPA personnel and con-
tractors interested In general ADP
topics.
Comments and suggestions are soli-
cited and should be addressed to:
WillIan G. Allen
Editor, EPA Data Talk
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711
NADPI SPONSORS APPLIED
MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP
Vic Cohen
A New York-based consulting firm,
Planning & Control, Inc., recently con-
ducted the first of a series of Applied
Project Management Workshops for EPA
Project Managers.
The three-day workshops incorporate
computer simulation of actual EPA data
processing projects including such in-
formation as personnel policies and pro-
cedures and timesharing priorities.
There are no prerequisites for these
workshops, which use a four-step educa-
tional process. The process includes:
• A "knowledge" session in which par-
ticipants are presented information
on the latest planning, scheduling,
budgeting, and management resource
development techniques.
• Participation in a simulated project
using parameters of input from a
computer which specifies schedul-
ing, budgeting, and planning
requirements.
• Use of computer feedback to modify
or alter the simulated project.
• A presentation upon completion of
the project by the teams involved,
outlining project objectives,
strategies, and results. Colleagues
act as project review boards, evalu-
ating strengths and weaknesses of
the project.
The Workshops are planned throughout
fiscal 1980 in Washington, DC; Research
Triangle Park; Cincinnati and Atlanta. A
mini-session of APM will be featured at
the ADP Conference scheduled for this
fall.
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NETWORK UPDATE
WCC HIGHLIGHTS
Fred Kastner
New modems have recently been installed
in RTF, N.C. which not only support the
Bell 212 (1200 bps, full-duplex) protocol
but also the VADIC 3400 (1200 bps, full-
duplex) protocol. This means that all
1200 bps users in the RTF area may now
access either NCC or WCC by dialing a
local number (919-541-2071) instead of
dialing WATS lines. Plans are already
being made to expand this rotor facility
due to the continued increase in 1200 bps
usage.
Special CODEX diagnostic modems are being
used on the Dallas-Denver dedicated cir-
cuits to investigate sporadic trans-
missions problems.
The local telephone company in New York
City has recently completed a major re-
design of the local rotor facility. It
is expected that this reconfiguration
will eliminate the problems that have
characterized access from that city for
many months. The new access number for
300 bps in New York is (212) 962-7943.
Using WATS and network city utilization
statistics, COMNET is presently studying
traffic patterns in an attempt to iden-
tify under-utilized network components
and cities which may qualify for local
dial and dedicated equipment. Some net-
work reconfigurations will probably
result from these studies.
All network users are reminded and urged
to report communication problems to the
technicians at COMNET. Persistent prob-
lems and/or unsatisfactory resolutions
should be reported to Fred Kastner at
(919) 541-2932 or FTS 629-2932.
Curt Lackey
1 Three million bytes (3 Megs) of
additional memory have been installed on
the two WCC systems. One Meg was in-
stalled on the 168 and the 3032 received
the other two. This memory is needed to
fully utilize the MVS operating system
and to provide additional capacity for
the ever-increasing WCC workload.
V
The MVS Conversion Schedule has been
definitized and is summarized below.
Every effort is being made to meet this
schedule. Further delays are not
anticipated.
7/14/79 RJE testing available on
Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to
1:00 p.m. until 8/11/79
9/1/79 MVS Production System avail-
able on the 3032, ALPHA
limited to 50 users
9/1/79 WYLBUR LOAD-GO available
10/1/79
MVS on 3032 and 168, ALPHA not
available during prime time
Users should make every effort to
convert during the five weeks allotted.
No charges for MVS processing will be
made until October 1, 1979.
A Xerox 1200 Printing System has
been purchased by EPA and provided to
COMNET as Government-Furnished Equipment.
This offers EPA users a very cost-
effective method of producing multiple
copies of large volume reports. Users
desiring this service are requested to
call the WCC Production Management
Department at (202) 537-2727.
The deadline for contributions to the
September/October issue of EPA
Talk is September 14, 1979.
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MVS CONVERSION AT WCC
Maureen Johnson
The conversion from IBM's MVT operating
system with the ALPHA Timesharing
Language to IBM's MVS operating system
with the TSO and WYLBUR timesharing
languages has been a major task over the
past seven months at WCC and is approach-
ing development completion and installa-
tion. A review session was held in mid-
June which resulted in a revised plan and
schedule, after which major system man-
agers at EPA headquarters and regional
ADP branch chiefs were contacted to
assess the impacts of the proposed plan
and schedule. MIDSD, COMNET, and the
User Conversion Team are working closely
with several user groups to assist in
resolving various problem areas.
Lee Manning of Monitoring and Data
Support, (OHWM) and Bill Gillam of
Technical Services, (OTS) are providing
valuable assistance in checking out TSO
and WYLBUR from the user's perspective.
After carefully reviewing the status of
the many sub-tasks involved in achieving
the conversion to MVS, EPA again revised
the schedule in July to allow time for
implementation of IBM's security system
(RACF) and to assure the availability of
full-function, tested TSO and WYLBUR
capabilities. RJE testing is available
on Saturdays. Starting August 18, TSO
and WYLBUR testing will also be available
eacn Saturday. However, access to the
MVS test system will not be available to
users on a daily basis until September 1.
At that time, a full production MVS
system with TSO and WYLBUR will be imple-
mented on the IBM 370/3032/CPU. Pro-
duction MVT and ALPHA will be restricted
to the IBM 370/168. The target for
completing all user conversion has been
set for October 1.
The MVS User Conversion Team at (202)
184-0903 is available now and throughout
the conversion period to answer questions
and assist users in resolving conversion-
related problems. While most offsite
conversion training has been completed,
conversion training will continue at EPA
Headquarters. Detailed schedule infor-
mation is available on-line and in the
SIGNON newsletter.
ADP TRAINING FOR FY 1980
Ernie Watson, Computer Specialist
The Environmental Protection Agency's
National ADP Service Center (NADPSC) pro-
vides ADP training for the Agency through
the Washington Computer Center (WCC), the
National Computer Center (NCC), and the
National ADP Institute (NADPI). The com-
puter centers each offer courses that are
primarily oriented toward the users of
equipment at that center. NADPI offers
management and conceptual courses in-
dependent of the centers. All courses
offered are tuition free.
Recently these three groups agreed to
jointly sponsor an ADP training survey.
The survey results will help them plan
and coordinate their course offerings for
FY80, and help eliminate duplications,
avoid schedule conflicts, and offer the
widest possible range of ADP training.
The EPA Training Survey lists courses
that are currently available or are under
development, and allows respondents to
suggest courses not listed. The intent
is to collect data directly from users
and managers that will enable us to
develop and schedule courses according to
interest and need. On June 28, 1979,
MIDSD Director, R.C. Stringer, sent the
survey to all directors of divisions and
equivalent staff offices. We have asked
for responses by July 2U so that the
results may be tabulated and summarized,
and course schedules developed and pub-
lished, in time for the next fiscal year.
Mr. Samuel Brown, NADPSC Director, dis-
tributed an advanced copy of the survey
to all Agency ADP Coordinators. In his
cover memo, he asked the Coordinators to
assist their respective divisions in
completing the survey. This involvement
between the division, ADP Coordinators,
and NADPSC personnel should make for a
full, rewarding ADP training program in
FY80.
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UNIT! D STATES
INViaONMf NTAl PROTECTION A6CNCT
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park
North Carolina 27711
OFFICIAL. BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE *3OO
OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYE*
POSTAGE AND FEES FAID
U S ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-333
THIRD CLASS
BLK. RT.
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