FBO_JOFOC.pdf

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FAIR OPPORTUNITY EXCEPTION FOR

RESTRICTING COMPETITION TO ONLY ONE SOURCE

An ordering activity must justify its action when restricting consideration to one contractor or to an item peculiar to one manufacture in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. The contracting officer must provide each awardee a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding the micro purchase threshold issued under contract. Any vendor with a possible “or equals” may respond to this solicitation but will be treated as “Informational” only. Accordingly, the following Fair Opportunity Exception is prepared in accordance with FAR 6.303-2:

1. Identification of Agency and the Contracting Activity:

The Contracting Activity is the United States Forest Service, Chief Information Office (CIO), and the Washington Office Acquisition Management Information Technology (WO-AQM IT) Support Branch, Albuquerque Service Center, 4000 Masthead St. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109.

2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

The purpose of this requirement is to procure the necessary professional services required to update and maintain the Suppose source to the utilize XVT Development System version DSC++15.0 and the RogueWave version that is included in DSC++15.0. The updated Suppose source code will need to build correctly using XVT version DSC++15.0 and Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2017.

3. Description of Supplies or Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need Including the Estimated Value:

The Suppose source code uses a proprietary toolkit called XVT to build graphical elements that function on different operating systems. To maintain Suppose functionality on modern Windows operating systems, Suppose source code needs to be updated to use XVT version DSC++15.0.

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (one of the circumstances in FAR 6.302-1) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1, this justification supports that only one manufacturer is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required and the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized. There is no other known source code that will meet these critical needs. The Suppose source code will be part of a system which builds graphical elements which functions on various operating systems.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The justification for using Providence Software is they are the owners of the underlying XVT tool kit used to write the Suppose software. We know of no other firm that has the technical capability, experience and cost to accomplish the desired tasks. XVT is a proprietary product of Providence Software Solutions, Inc. and they have been involved with Suppose model development for over 20 years and no other sources outside of Providence Solutions, Inc.

knows the unique modeling techniques used with XVT in Suppose. An analogous estimation method was used to determine price reasonableness; incorporating the forest’s most recent similar contracts. The forest has several current contracts for comparable (although very different) programming work.

6. A Description of Market Research Conducted Among Schedule Holders and the Results or a

Statement of the Reason Market Research Was Not Conducted:

Costs were reviewed from recent contracts for work with the Forest Vegetation Simulator source code in order to determine typical contract costs. A search was conducted on GSA Advantage and NASA SEWP for: XVT version DSC++15.0 which yielded no results among GSA and NASA SEWP vendors. A general internet search was conducted with search component: “XVT version DSC++15.0,” which also yielded no results.

7. A statement of the actions if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

It is unknown what actions the Forest Service may take to overcome the barriers to competition for this requirement. Perhaps advances in technology will lead to an “or equal” that will be compatible to fill future needs. The FS will continue to do market research and monitor new technologies to see if future requirements can be met by other sources.

The Program Office signature below provides evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

SUBMITTED:

MICHAEL VAN DYCK

Acting FMSC Manager

I certify that this justification and any supporting documentation are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

APPROVED:

ANNA L MARCEAU

Ordering Activity Contracting Officer

CONCUR:

JAMES GMC BAILEY

Contracting Officer