ATTACHMENT A COMMENTS ON DDI MEMORANDUM ON WANG EVALUATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B01152R000700930013-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2007
• Sequence Number: 13
• Content Type: REPORT

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COMMENTS ON DDI MEMORANDUM ON WANG EVALUATION
1. The cover memo from Chief, ASG, CPAS states "the
processing backlog in ODP is now six months for either (a Wang
7520 or an NBI)." There is no backlog in ODP for any word
processing equipment. Requests are logged in and processing
begins as, soon as the requests are received. Orders will not
be cut, however, until the customer provides blueprints for
systems requiring cabling. Currently, a customer can expect
to have his Wang System installed within sixty days of receipt
of order if a site survey has been made, and the request is in
order. (The request is checked for inaccuracies,
compatibility with blueprints, maintenance included for leased
equipment. etc..) In the case of NB!'s, processing is
somewhat longer because of the special approvals that must be
obtained for procuring non-standard word processing equipment.
Price verification of NB! options generally takes longer
because of the relative unavailability of NBI salespeople as
compared to the dedicated Wang marketing personnel.
2. The referenced memo states that "the office
seriously disrupted by the presence of several workers
installed the cables. The job was a messy one,
further to the.disruption." Cabling requires drill
the ceilings and will be
the altered areas.
cabling after hours
however, if the area
to provide
is by
disruptive to
Arrangements can
and on weekends
was
who
I end i ng
ing wi*_r.in
personnel working in
be made to install
at overtime rates,
is vaulted the customer office will
escorting in the vaulted areas. Although the
have
work
nature "messy", the subcontractors do clean and restore
areas affected by the construction.
3. The referenced memo states that "over three months
elapsed between the time we submitted our order to ODP and the
operational date. ODP tells us that is the average time
required. This compares with an. average
procurement/installation time of 30 days for NBI word
processing systems." DDi personnel changed the original
location intended for the Alliance CPU Master and disk drives
causing a five to six weeks' delay in the installation
process. Pertinent dates. are as follows: order date: 8
August 1982; delivery date: 22 September 1982; start of
cabling: 15 October 1982; cabling completed: 25 October
1982; system installed: 1 November 1982. (The DDI memo cites
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17 November 1982 as the installation date. This is because
CPAS personnel had not arranged for training until after I
November 1982 and requested that system software not be loaded
until 17 November 1982.) Item 1. above, addresses the ODP
processing time. Procurement/ installation of NBI equipment
now takes about 60-90 days since it is now categorized as
Agency non-standard word processing equipment and as such must
go through a time-consuming approval process. _
4. The referenced memo states that "maximum separation
(of terminals from the CPU) was 500 feet." Wang has now
committed to a maximum separation of 1000 feet. Cabling
between floors in the Agency headquarters building requires
special approval from OC and OL.
5. The referenced memo states that "two (ports) are
reserved for telecommunications interfaces . . and two are
reserved for software packages (like CP/M . . ." Neither
CP/M nor any Alliance software package requires a port. Each
telecommunications board does require a port (the Alliance
System can support two TC boards), however, ports are not
reserved for TC boards. Thus, it is possible to configure an
Aliiance System with 24 terminals and eight printers, however,
it is good system planning to limit the number of ports used
initially to allow for expansion.
6. The referenced memo states that "one terminal must
eventually be installed immediately adjacent to the CPU and
disk drives." The system administrator can use any terminal
for performing administrative tasks. However, for tasks, such
as disk backup, the terminal should be reasonably close to the
disks. This can be resolved by having the terminal closest to
the Alliance CPU site on a moveable stand.
7. The referenced memo states that "the Vl to Wang
interface is under development, but it may take longer than
anticipated." ODP has developed the module to convert Wang
WPS documents to VM SCRIPT but have not yet developed a user
friendly driving module. (ODP personnel have actually
converted several high priority files for customers using the
prototype system.) The development is now scheduled for
completion by 1 March 1983.
8. The referenced memo states that "The attached cost
comparison suggests the Wang might be more cost-effective for
systems with seven or more workstations, etc." The Wang costs
are much more attractive than the NBI costs when you consider
that the Wang equipment is TEMPEST approved whereas the NBI
equipment is not. (Tempest equipment is often 40 % to 100%
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more expensive than the corresponding non-Tempest equipment.)
9. The referenced memo states that "The system
administrator's job could well become a full-time position for
most DI offices." The Alliance System requires minimal
support from a systems administrator if the system is only
used for basic word processing (perhaps two to three days
initially and one to two hours per week thereafter). Some
Agency offices have assigned a dedicated support person to act
as system administrator for four Alliance Systems.
10. The referenced memo states that "The CPU and disk
drives require approximately 100 square feet of space." The
Wang workstation will fit on the sidearm of a standard
government-issued desk, whereas each NBI workstation requires
about 25 square feet of additional space. For ten NBI
workstations this means an additional 250 square feet. The
Wang Alliance Master with two disk drives can easily be housed
in a 100 square foot room (which would provide sufficient
space for ventilation and for the Wang customer engineers to
perform maintenance on the equipment.) Ten Alliance
workstations would require no additional space.
li. The referenced memo states "The CPU and disk drives
are too noisy.for most office environments, so they require an
isolated area. . . . The system cannot function in areas
whose temperature is above 90 degrees, therefore require
supplemental cooling." Ideally, the Alliance System should be
located in a dedicated room (or a computer center if
available) so that heat and noise would be of little
consequence. If the system is located in an area with
personnel, noise abatement partitions can be used and heat
ducts can be installed by the Office of Logistics (as was done
for the ODP/ED Alliance System.. Areas whose temperature is
above 90 degrees should be serviced by OL in any case.
12. The referenced memo states "Word processing
functions (and formatting) require more key strokes on the
Wang than on the NBI." Wang designs their word processing
systems to be user friendly and has a good record in this
respect, however, there may be certain functions on the NBI
that can be judged easier to use. The basic word processing
functions are somewhat different from vendor to vendor. It is
natural for users to prefer the operational idiosyncracies of
the word processing system that they are more experienced
with. However, these minor variations in the operation of
basic functions are not good criteria to use for selecting one
word processing system over another.
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13. The referenced memo states that "sheet feeders are
not available for" the Wang." Sheet feeders will be available
for Wang printers in May, 1983.
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