Page 236 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

CONTRACTUAL ISSUES REGARDING THE PURCHASE OF AN AFIS 221

testing and cleaning of the hardware and upgrades to the software. The RFP,
and resulting contract, will determine the periods when the vendor can conduct
this routine work, perhaps defining a maximum amount of allowable “down-
time” for this function.
The second kind of maintenance, which tends to be more difficult to define
and reach agreement upon, is remedial maintenance, or maintenance in
response to a problem. How much downtime or unavailability is acceptable to
the government depends on the use of the AFIS. In a 24/7/365 operation used
to support criminal justice efforts, various court orders may permit very little
downtime. In contrast, an AFIS used on a business hour and day basis may
provide large blocks of time for maintenance. The AFIS use will also impact
whether the government must require a vendor representative to be on the
premises during core hours to address urgent issues.
It can be beneficial to identify whether different maintenance requirements
and response times are acceptable for different types of problems or com-
ponents of the AFIS. It may be possible to define the types of problems and
associate each problem with a relative degree of importance, perhaps on a
three-tiered scale. The contractual response time is based on the degree of
importance associated with each tier. If a triaging mechanism is employed, it is
important to carefully analyze the government’s needs and ensure that the gov-
ernment has a role in defining the degree of importance assigned to a problem.
Consideration should also be given to permitting the government to escalate
the problem under certain circumstances.
Similarly, if an AFIS is comprised of multiple sites, such as a central site and
numerous regional sites, the government may want to differentiate mainte-
nance response times based on location or component. The highest level of
service would most likely be reserved for the central site. Also, with certain
exceptions, there is probably greater flexibility and less demand for the test bed
system, and so a less intensive maintenance response may be acceptable. Con-
sideration should be given to requiring a different maintenance response,
however, when the test bed system is used for critical testing purposes.
The parties’ expectations about communication of information during
problem resolution and problem escalation must also be expressed in the main-
tenance plan. This is critically important in the criminal justice context, since
the liberty of individuals can be affected by System downtime and it tends to
be very high profile. The documents should define how and when information
must be communicated (e.g., for the most severe type of problem, the vendor’s
designated contact will speak to the government’s designated contact every
hour with a progress update) and how the reported problem will be escalated
within each organization (e.g., the most severe type of problem, if not resolved
within 4 hours, will be escalated to the next level of each party’s management).