FAR 13 Single Source Justification_requisition 1136978_GeoCat B.V - Redacted.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Limited Source/Brand Name Justification

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) – Simplified Acquisitions Control No. 1136978

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Requesting Agency: Ursula Pieper, Associate Directory NAL/ISD 10301 Baltimore Avenue, RM 115 Beltsville, MD 20705

Contracting Activity: Katelyn Nelson, Contracting Officer 5601 Sunnyside Ave Beltsville, MD 20705

2. Description of supply or service required to meet the agency’s needs.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Research Service (ARS) National Agricultural Library (NAL) requires contractor assistance to provide Enterprise Product Support for the NAL Geodata applications which utilize the GeoNetwork platform.

The contractor shall provide enterprise product support for the NAL GeoNetwork installation to include support for enterprise GeoNetwork software. GeoNetwork is an open-source application and the community based release of the software has outdated components that do not fulfill NAL’s cyber security requirements. Components of maintenance are, but not limited to bug fixes, technical support for production systems, technical support for implementation, open-source best practice advice, and open-source assurance.

3. The rationale or circumstances for limiting competition.

GeoCat B.V. provides support on GeoNetwork installations with multiple servers, fail-over, replication and containerized installation, which are essential for the expected increase in content and access for the ARS and NAL GeoNetwork installation. GeoCat B.V has unique expertise and specific experience providing support for large installation for other governments and governement agencies. The work GeoCat B.V has demonstrated a high level of cyber security comprehensive support that no other vendor can replicate.

4. A description of the market research conducted and the results.

USDA-NAL reached out to their subject matter expert on available support, conducted an extensive internet search, and searched for companies providing this type of support on the GeoNetwork development and support mailing list. Market research failed to discover another contractor that was capable of the providing the level of support required by the statement of work.

In effort to locate additional capable contractors, a Sources Sought Notification (SSN) was posted to SAM.GOV on 9/3/2024. The SSN closed on 9/6/2024 with responses received by Attainx, Inc., Bluebery Hawaii Technology Solutions, Reliant Global Technology, Takhai Advisory Services, Technology Information Systems, Zodiaque Consultants, and Zoeconn Consulting Corp. The seven contractors provided capability statements, which were forwarded to the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC). The TPOC determined that the vendors did not have the capabities to provide the required support in accordance with the statement of work. In essence, the contractors provided very generic capability statements that were not tailored to the provided Statement of Work (SOW).

GeoCat B.V. is the only company that is capable of performing in accordance with the SOW.

5. Estimated price, including all options, if applicable.

Base year: $63,000.00 Option year one: $63,000.00 Option year two: $63,000.00 Total (including options): $189,000.00

6. Recommended source(s).

GeoCat B.V.

3613 Doncaster Dr V8P 3W5 Victoria Netherlands

SAM UEI: TYZ6GFW8UTG6

Certifications

Supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel and which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.

Ursula Pieper Associate Directory NAL/ISD

The information contained in this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b)(1), I hereby determine the circumstances described above deem only one source, or limited sources, reasonably available and competition is precluded for the reasons indicated in this document.

Katelyn Nelson Contracting Officer

The information contained in this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b)(1), I hereby determine the circumstances described above deem only one source, or limited sources, reasonably available and competition is precluded for the reasons indicated in this document.

James Velez Contracting Officer Team Lead Contracting Operations Branch