Limited_Sources_Justification_-_WxConnect_-_signed_by_LEGAL.pdf

Source Selection Information – see FAR 2.101 and 3.104

LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ORDER/BPA EXCEEDING

THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

(AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6)

NWWJ0000-18-00268

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Eastern Acquisition Division

(EAD) and National Weather Service (NWS), Office of Dissemination (ODIS).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a Limited Sources Justification for a task order against the General Services Administration

(GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) to Harris Corporation for WxConnect™ software support.

NOAA intends to award a new Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Time and Materials (T&M) task order to Harris Corporation on GSA FSS Schedule 70 Category 132 51 - Information Technology

Professional Services. The anticipated period of performance is for 12 months, from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019, with an estimated cost of $420,000.00.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The NWS Geostationary Weather Satellite Antenna Systems (GWSAS) are mission-critical systems that ingest and process environmental satellite data from the NOAA Geostationary

Operational Environmental Satellite—R (GOES-R) and Himawari series of satellites, and provide the resulting products to NWS forecasting systems and users. The systems are installed at eight

NWS facilities: Anchorage AK, Aviation Weather Center, National Hurricane Center, Pacific

Region Headquarters, Space Weather Prediction Center, Storm Prediction Center, NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, and Guam.

The primary software running on GWSAS is a proprietary package referred to as WxConnect™.

NWS is seeking a long-term open-source software solution for GWSAS. However, the trade study and analysis of alternatives leading to the selection of that software solution will require at least six

(6) months to complete and an additional two (2) months to fully transition the NWS GWSAS systems from the WxConnect™ software to the open source solution that will be selected from the alternatives. Therefore, NWS requires continued support for WxConnect™ until the open-source options are analyzed, an option is selected, and the solution is installed and operating on NWS’

GWSAS. The software support includes incident response and system recovery (e.g., corrective actions in response to WxConnect™ anomalies or outages), support for resolution of networking or connectivity problems, preparation of provision of security patches, and other necessary software updates. Because of the proprietary nature of the WxConnect™ software, Harris Corporation is the only provider of this support.

The required proprietary support is listed in the table below.

Contract / Contract Line

Item Number (CLIN) Type Description Qty Unit Price Total

FFP WxConnect O&M Support 12 $30,000.00 $360,000.00

T&M WxConnect Development Support* 2* $30,000.00* $60,000.00*

TOTAL $420,000.00

*estimate (T&M)

The current task order for these crucial services ends August 31, 2018. The anticipated period of performance for this new task order is for 12 months, from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019, with an estimated cost of $420,000.00. Continuity of services is of great importance as these services enable mission-critical operations.

The WxConnect™ Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Support portion of the requirement includes software updates that entail updating basic WxConnect™ functionality and resolving any security issues. Software updates for the FFP portion of the task order will be deployed on an as-needed basis to keep the GWSAS / WxConnect™ software functioning properly and current with respect to any/all identified IT security shortfalls (e.g., patching) or operating environment changes.

The software updates described in the WxConnect™ O&M Support portion of this task order focus on keeping the GWSAS systems current with respect to security patching and operating environment changes. It is possible that there will be additional drivers for software updates, such as changes to the GOES-16 Rebroadcast (GRB) or HCast data stream or the need for formatting adjustments of the GWSAS outputs (i.e., the netCDF and/or FITS files). These changes are not expected to be extensive, but will ensure the GWSAS systems remain compatible with the interfacing upstream and downstream NOAA systems. The WxConnect™ Development Support portion includes planning for and fully executing the software release, from requirements analysis, developing the software updates in a developmental or test environment (e.g., on spare GWSAS equipment), integration, testing, deployment to all GWSAS sites, and corresponding documentation updates as needed. Software updates are envisioned only on an as-needed basis to keep the WxConnect™ software functioning properly in the event of changes resulting in a need for more than a basic O&M update. These changes are expected to involve application software, not just utility/system software. For planning purposes, it is envisioned that there will be no more than two (2) such software updates for WxConnect™ during the period of performance.

4. Authority and supporting rationale. The following circumstance justifies limiting the source as supported below:

Only one source under the authority of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

As developers of the code, the software support is proprietary to Harris Corporation for the

NWS GWSAS systems software. Harris Corporation is the only source capable of providing the support and ensuring the continuity of operations while NWS prepares for and transitions to an open-source software solution. Harris Corporation does not have any resellers or partners for its software support.

A new software support program would present a high risk to NWS missions and the continuity of operations would be disturbed. The software support includes incident response and system recovery (e.g., corrective actions in response to WxConnect™ anomalies or outages), support for resolution of networking or connectivity problems, preparation of provision of security patches, and other necessary software updates. Any failures experienced with the

WxConnect™ software currently at GWSAS sites without the software support from Harris

Corporation would be impossible to correct in a timely way. The GOES-R and Himawari data streams provided by the NWS GWSAS systems are essential to NWS forecasts, watches, warnings, and 24x7 NWS operations. Those mission-critical operations would be materially curtailed in the absence of the support services sought. The NWS mission would be severely impacted if the required support is not provided from Harris Corporation.

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on GSA FSS rates that are already determined to be fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer will request additional discounts/price reductions before award consistent with FAR 8.405-4.

6. Market research conducted among schedule holders (or reason market research was not conducted).

Market research shows that several vendors are available to provide similar support services;

however, only Harris Corporation provides support for its own proprietary WxConnect™ software. The WxConnect™ software is heavily embedded into the NWS system.

Market research is ongoing for the long-term solution for this NWS need. The trade study, analysis of alternatives, and integration leading to the selection of a new software solution is in process and will be completed during the next six (6) to eight (8) months.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

8. Actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for supplies and services is made.

NWS is seeking a long-term open-source software solution for GWSAS. The trade study and analysis of alternatives to the current proprietary software leading to the selection of that software solution is underway and will be completed during the next six (6) to eight (8)