A. BACKGROUND 

Mongolia received a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project (SFFSP). The Objective of the SFFS Project is to contribute to the Government of Mongolia’s efforts to strengthen fiscal and financial stability and improve the quality of expenditure. The project is designed into five components: (i) Strengthening Macroeconomic and Fiscal Management; (ii) Improving the Efficiency of Public Financial Management; (iii) Enhancing Financial Sector Stability; (iv) Strengthening the Social Protection System; (v) Project Management and Monitoring. The objectives are to strengthen fiscal responsibility and implement the relevant policy measures; improve fiscal discipline; strengthen the resiliency of the banking system; improve public expenditure quality in social protection; and provide support for Project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, including, inter alia, audit arrangements, reporting requirements, procurement and financial management activities, respectively. For more details, please refer to the Project Appraisal Document Report No. PAD22691  

Under the Component B on Improving the Efficiency of Public Financial Management, there is a subcomponent on strengthening the public financial management institutional capacity. Within this subcomponent, the Financial Information Technology Division (FITD) of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has been making improvements of  network solutions to maintain further sustainability of the MOF network architecture with support from a consultant. In addition, to meet the requirements of future system deployment, a new network structure shall be developed to enable the system deployment be both efficient and easily accessible. 

B. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT 

The main objective of this assignment is to help improve the MOF datacenter’s network infrastructure and high availability by implementing network device configurations and installing a monitoring system. The Consultant will also prepare a datacenter migration plan and provide hands-on support in the process of the migration.

C. THE SCOPE OF WORK 

Key responsibilities of the Consultant under the contract will include advisory and hands-on support on the following: 

Task#1: Improve and implement the network device configurations  

• Isolate and restrict between the MOF systems’ networks into testing environments, production environments, and special system network; 
  
• Improve network configurations and access control lists on the Treasury network firewall ASA 5515 and improve configuration on Checkpoint Maestro firewall’s intrusion prevention system, intrusion detection prevention system and configurations; 
• Configure Radware Altheon load-balancer and Web Application Firewall for the MOF’s public access servers;
• Identify the faulty part of the network, if any, solve the problems (through advisory and hands-on support); 
• Perform penetration testing on the MOF network vulnerabilities and implement possible solutions;  
• Improve security settings of wireless networks; and
• Provide training on network configuration and provide comprehensive documentation related to the tasks to be performed.  

Task#2: Implement centralized log management system and monitoring server  

• Install and configure Graylog open source log management platform for the MOF servers and  network devices.
• Configure the currently installed SolarWinds monitoring system for the MOF network devices and servers;
• Improve the addressing of server connections,  layer 2 ,  and layer 3 topology of network connections of the existing server room and the new datacenter.

Task#3: Improve the Datacenter’s high availability  

• Implement VCenter high availability and fault tolerance configurations on the MOF Datacenter’s virtual environment;
• Configure network redundancy on the MOF’s internet gateway and the inter-banking network;
• Consult and implement backup automation of network device configuration, virtual machines and servers;
• Introduce docker virtualization solutions on the MOF systems for performance improvements;
• Organize training on the activities performed under task 3 for the MOF FITD specialists; and 
• Provide professional support and consulting for MOF specialists in relation to network issues as needed.    

Task#4: Prepare a migration plan documentation for the new Data Center’s network 

• Assess the current MOF Server Room’s network environment, reveal possible risks for the migration to the new Data Center’s network and mitigate those risks; 
• Prepare the design, topology, and the documentation for the new Data Center’s networks for each physical server and virtual servers, network controllers, cables, switches, firewalls, gateways, protocols, and other necessary devices; 
• Create a migration plan that has evaluated destination options and identified scope, time, and cost; 
• Determine resource requirements and build a migration checklist; 
• Consult on organizing the testing environment and verifying the new Data Center networks; 

Task#5:  Support to implementing the migration to the new datacenter and installation of equipments  

• Support the migration based on the prepared migration plan;
• Support the installation of server room equipments cooperating with MOF specialists; 
• Support the organization of the network connections of the server room; and 
• Support the installation of new network equipments (indicative list included in Annex 1). 

D. DELIVERABLES 

Deliverable 1:

• Final report and documentations prepared for the activities completed under Task # 1 - a, b, c, d and f
• Document on the penetration testing final results and recommendations 
• Training materials and step by step guides for the activities for Task 1

Deliverable 2:

• Final report prepared for the activities completed under Task # 2; 
• Final approved network topology diagram

Deliverable 3:

• Manuals and documentations on the activities performed under Task 3
• Final report prepared for the activities completed under Task # 3;  

Deliverable 4:

• Submit the prepared migration plan, checklist, rollover document, topology, testing plan and other documentations. 
• Final report prepared for the activities completed under Task # 4;

Deliverable 5:

• Final report prepared for the activities completed under Task # 5;

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA 

The Consultant should meet the following qualification requirements: 

Education: A suitable candidate should have at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field: Information Technology and Computer Network or relevant discipline. Candidates should have the Network certificate /Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) is recommended/;

Experience:  Incumbent must have at least 5 years of experience of working in IT or network related field;

Language skills: Must have professional proficiency in English and fluent written and spoken skills in Mongolian; 

Computer literacy: Be proficient in routing, switching, Cisco networking software and LAN/WAN networks; 

Other skills:

• Have excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work in a group and multicultural team environment is required to deal effectively with staff at all levels; 
• Be able to work overtime if required; 
• Be able to work with configuration of network equipment such as firewall, switch etc; and 
• Be able to work independently, advise others, and work in a team. 

F. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING 

• The consultant will report directly to the Director-General of the Public Administration and Management Department (PAMD) and the Head of FITD and will work on a day-to-day basis with the officials appointed by the Director-General of PAMD to review progress with the work program and to resolve any outstanding issues.  
• All information provided to the consultant will be regarded as confidential and information will not be shared with any outside individuals or organizations. 
• All reports shall be prepared in both English and Mongolian, in electronic and hard format, which shall be submitted to the FITD of Public Administration and Management Department and the PIU (SFFSP).   

G. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 

If required, the client will provide office space and assign the officials to collaborate and monitor progress towards acceptance of the deliverables stated in the contract. The consultant will have access to all necessary data and information. The consultancy shall implement the above tasks under the oversight and guidance and in consultation with officers of the Financial Information Technology Division of Public Administration Department and in line with the Ministry of Finance's vision, mission, mandate, functions and operational framework and implementation policy. 

H. CONTRACT DURATION AND PAYMENT CONDITION 

The assignment is expected to commence in April 2022 and continue for 12 months. If any task is not completed and approved by the Client within the agreed-upon timeline, consultants should complete the tasks without any additional cost. 

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