PA(2023) Cabinet No.

PA: 35/1/1 Vol. I

May , 2023

Note for Cabinet

Approval for the Payment of One Year of Hardware Support for the
Integrated Global Payroll/ Integrated Human Resources Information System
(IGP/IhRIS) Hardware at the Production, Disaster Recovery/Back-Up and
Test Sites

The matter for the consideration of Cabinet is the approval for payment of
Oracle Support for Integrated Global Payroll/ Integrated Human Resources
Information System (IGP/IhRIS) hardware at the production site, disaster
recovery/back-up site and the test site for one (1) year commencing the date of
payment, at an estimated cost of one million, nine hundred and six thousand,
nine hundred and forty-seven dollars and forty-nine cents (TT$1,906,947.49)
(VAT included).

2. Cabinet is reminded that IGP/IhRIS system is used for the processing of

salaries, wages and pensions of over one hundred thousand persons and that
both the hardware and software require maintenance and support until their “end
of life” dates. Cabinet, by Cabinet Minute No. 3612 dated November 14, 2013
agreed, inter alia, to the replacement of hardware and networking components in
the IGP/IhRIS Production, Disaster Recovery and Development/Test/Train
Environments.

3. Cabinet vide Minute No. 1701 dated September 22, 2022 transferred the
responsibility for IGP/IhRIS from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Public
Administration (MPA) with effect from October 03, 2022. As such, the Ministry of
Public Administration is now responsible for ensuring that the requisite hardware
support payments are made and that the systems remain functional.

4. The invoice for Oracle Hardware Support from PBS Technologies

(Trinidad) Limited provided at Appendix I. The indicative pricing for 2023-2024 is
stated as two hundred and seventy two thousand, four hundred and twenty one
dollars and seven cents United States (US$272,421.07). At a rounded TT$:US$
conversion rate of TT$7:US$1, the indicative pricing for 2023-2024 is one
million, nine hundred and six thousand, nine hundred and forty-seven
dollars and forty-nine cents (TT$1,906,947.49) (VAT included).

5. The Ministry of Finance, vide Cabinet Minute No. 782 of June 02, 2016,
obtained approval for Massy Technologies InfoCom (Trinidad) Limited, on a sole
select basis, to provide services for the upgrade of the Oracle PeopleSoft

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products and systems underpinning the IGP/IhRIS. These services included,
inter alia, the support for three (3) years for hardware acquired for the 2018/2019
IhRIS Technical Upgrade at the three (3) aforementioned sites. The After Sales
Service and Support Agreement at Appendix II provides the terms of the support
up to December 01, 2022.

6. Given that the period of support officially expired on December 01, 2022,
PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited and Oracle have indicated that an
extension to May 15, 2023 for payment was granted. Cabinet is asked to
note however that Oracle has officially suspended support until payment is
made. PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited have since acted in good faith to
resolve the hardware issues that have occurred since expiration of the support.

7. PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited, (formerly Massy Technologies

InfoCom Trinidad Limited), provides warranty repairs onsite and at their service
centres as required by the Oracle supplier contracts. The Hardware Support
ensures that GoRTT is provided with continuous local ICT equipment (hardware)
support, and local stocking of critical spare parts to minimise any system
downtime. The IGP/IhRIS Production Team’s Support Usage for 2022 at
Appendix III refers.

8. Cabinet is asked to note however that the IGP/IhRIS hardware may no

longer be eligible for Oracle Premier Support. Oracle offers hardware support
categories based on the age of the hardware from the Release Date. The GoRTT
has been awaiting information from PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited for the
true ages of the hardware as they relate to the support category applicable to the
current period and for one year. This has resulted in a delay in the payment of
support for 2023.

9. The GoRTT and PBS Technologies have been undertaking an inventory

exercise to confirm the hardware to be covered for support. The documents
attached at Appendix IV refer. The MPA is awaiting confirmed inventory
information from Oracle and PBS Technologies and this delay puts the GoRTT at
risk for late payment penalties. Given that GoRTT was late in paying the 2022
support, this could have resulted in a reinstatement fee to Oracle of five hundred
and thirty three thousand, three hundred and sixty one dollars and thirteen cents
(TT$533,361.13). However, Oracle granted a change in the expiry date/renewal
period from December 01, 2022 to March 30, 2023 and the GoRTT was not
charged this reinstatement fee. The MPA is seeking to take steps to ensure that
such a situation will not arise again, and in this regard has been working closely
with both PBS Technologies and Oracle to provide the Cabinet with accurate and
comprehensive information/invoices for accurate and timely hardware support
payments, should these be required in the future.

10. IGP/IhRIS is a mission critical system of the GoRTT and as such, the
failure of the IGP/IhRIS system may result in significant payment disruptions,

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financial hardships and discord amongst approximately one hundred and four
thousand (104,000) Public Officers and retirees who receive their salary/pension
payments through the system. This can have a negative ripple effect on
households and other dependents of these persons and could trigger social
unrest in the country.

11. In order to mitigate against these eventualities, continuous hardware

support is required; that is, support that is provided twenty-four hours per day,
seven days per week. Continuous support is even more critical given the ageing
hardware. The hardware was acquired in 2018, and is thus now older than five
(5) years and at greater risk for component failure due to age and daily wear and
tear.

12. It is reasonable to assume that the need for support for the system is likely
to increase as the system continues to age. In the interim, given Oracle’s and
PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited’s deadline date of May 15, 2023 for
payment, and given the criticality of the IGP/IhRIS solution, it is therefore
recommended that GoRTT pursues annual hardware support for one year (from
the actual date of payment) at an estimated cost of one million, nine hundred
and six thousand, nine hundred and forty-seven dollars and forty-nine
cents (TT$1,906,947.49) (VAT included), covering the hardware at the
Production, Disaster Recovery and Test sites.

13. Cabinet is advised that funding for the hardware support was allocated to
the following vote under the Ministry of Finance and was included in the 2023
Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure:

Head 18 - Ministry of Finance

Sub-Head 02 - Goods and Services
Item 005 - Treasury Division
Sub-Item 15 - Repairs and Maintenance Equipment
Allocation $16,500,000

The Ministry of Public Administration will cover the payment under the following
vote pending the subsequent transfer of allocations from the Ministry of Finance:

Head 31 - Ministry of Public Administration

Sub-Head 02 - Goods and Services
Item 001 - General Administration
Sub-Item 15 - Repairs and Maintenance Equipment
Allocation $168,000

Funds will be vired to cover payment.

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14. Cabinet is also asked to note that the payment for the hardware support
will be a sole-select procurement executed by the Ministry of Public
Administration.

15. In view of the foregoing, the Minister of Public Administration recommends

and Cabinet is asked to:

a) agree in principle:

i. to the payment of Support for IGP/IhRIS hardware at the production site,

disaster recovery/back-up site and the test sites for one (1) year commencing
on the date of payment at an estimated cost of one million, nine hundred and
six thousand, nine hundred and forty-seven dollars and forty-nine cents
(TT$1,906,947.49) (VAT included) from PBS Technologies (Trinidad)
Limited;

ii. that expenditure to be incurred in respect of (a) (i) above be met from funds
under the following vote:

Head 31 - Ministry of Public Administration

Sub-Head 02 - Goods and Services
Item 001 - General Administration
Sub-Item 15 - Repairs and Maintenance Equipment

iii. Virements will be undertaken to cover the full payment.

b) note:

i. the invoice with the relevant category of support is pending from PBS
Technologies and the cost for the hardware support will inform the actual
payment;

ii. the hardware to be covered by the support is to be confirmed via an

exercise with PBS Technologies and the MPA’s IhRIS Unit before
payment is made;

iii. the payment for the hardware support will be a sole-select procurement
executed by the Ministry of Public Administration.

Ministry of Public Administration

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Appendix I
Invoice for Oracle Support from PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited dated
November 07, 2022

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Appendix II - PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited – After Sales Service
and Support

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Appendix III - 2022 Hardware Support Usage Report

1. Access to Release updates/ Patches: These are unlimited during the life cycle of the
product. Release updates bundle several patches and enhancements into one. Individual
patches are released where needed and available.
Eg: a) Solaris 11.4 updates were released monthly in 2022. Several bugs are fixed
per release
b Patches for Supercluster are released on average quarterly.
c) MiniCluster Release updates were made available twice in 2022.
d) Statistics for use of the Oracle Support Portal are below:

e) Actual downloads by GORTT

2. Fixes :

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 These are applied cumulatively when scheduled.
- Oracle Support patched the M8 supercluster to the latest release in January,2022.
Another event will need to be scheduled in 2023.
- Patches to the Advanced Support Gateway and Oracle RDBMS upgrades by Oracle
Support personnel were ongoing but these are on hold pending renewal of Support.
4. Security patches :
Critical Patch Updates are collections of security fixes for Oracle products. They are
available to customers with valid support contracts. Starting in April 2022, Critical Patch
Updates will be released on the third Tuesday of January, April, July, and October (They
were previously published on the Tuesday closest to the 17th day of January, April, July,
and October). The next four dates are:
 18 April 2023
 18 July 2023
 17 October 2023
 16 January 2024
5. Onsite hardware support :
- PBS visited GoRTT locations four times in 2022.
- Critical Hardware spares are stocked locally

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Appendix IV - IhRIS/IGP Servers Acquired for the 2018/2019 IhRIS
Technical Upgrade

ITEM Environment SERVERS: Type/Model Qty

1 PROD Oracle M8 supercluster 1
2 PROD Exadata Storage Servers (X7-2L) 3
3 PROD Oracle X6-2L 3
Oracle Advanced Support Gateway
4 PROD 1
Server X6-2
       
5 DR Oracle Minicluster S7-2 1
6 DR Oracle S7-2l 2
7 DR Oracle X6-2 2
8 DR Oracle X6-2L 2
9 DR Brocade 300 switch 2
StorageTek SL150 modular tape
10 DR 1
library
11 DR StorageTek LTO6 Media 2
StorageTek LTO universal cleaning
12 DR 1
cartridge
Oracle Secure Backup – Stream
13 DR 1
Perpetual
14 DR ZFS Storage appliance 1

15 PMO Oracle S7-2L 3

16 PMO Brocade 300 switch 2
17 PMO ZFS Storage appliance 1

Oracle Solaris Cluster, Enterprise

18 (ALL) 16
Edition – Processor Perpetual

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