Redacted_HCL_APV_Brand_Name_J&A.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

SOL # 140D0420Q0004

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Sole Source Justification.”

This document is a sole source (brand name) justification for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division 1, for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

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

The Government’s brand name requirement is for BigFix Accelerated Value Program (AVP) support. IBM previously provided this support under contract but has since sold the AVP support to another company, HCL Technologies, who provides the services through authorized resellers.

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

HCL Technologies Accelerated Value Program (AVP) support will provide highly specialized 24x7x365 premium level support services for DOI’s OCIO for BigFix implementation activities across all Bureaus and Offices.

The Government’s intent is to issue a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Purchase Order to a HCL Technologies AVP authorized reseller for a nine-month period of performance. The anticipated total period of performance will be from 11/01/2019 to 7/31/2020.

The total estimated value is

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition.

This is an acquisition conducted under the authority of the Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition is 41U.S.C 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii). This includes brand name requirements.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are driving real-time improvements in Information Technology (IT) Security across the Executive Branch Agencies. Congress has appropriated funds to DHS in order to assist

Executive Branch Agencies with these improvements. DHS used Congressional funding to purchase software licenses for DOI to install across the bureau and office environments. The software that DOI chose to meet this need was IBM BigFix, now provided by HCL Technologies and their authorized resellers.

To support DOIs continued implementation and utilization of the BigFix solution; the Department requires access to highly specialized contractor support for the AVP services. Such support is currently only provided directly through the product’s developer and authorized resellers.

HCL AVP services include subject matter experts (SMEs) with direct access to HCL product development teams. The SMEs will provide expedited problem resolution, performance enhancements, architecture design, update implementation, and platform maintenance. This service will allow OCIO to plan, deploy, grow, optimize, and extend its software environment to meet growing DOI needs. Additionally, it will allow DOI to take advantage of proactive planning, deployment mentoring, provide knowledge sharing before DOI expansion projects start, eliminate delays with elevated problem resolution via priority call handling, problem management, and on-site services.

Only HCL and its authorized resellers are able to provide access to the product development team and source code required for software modifications. HCL owns the proprietary rights to the BigFix source code; therefore, the required software support can only be provided by HCL or authorized resellers. This level of support is especially critical for an enterprise the size of DOI as its sheer size, number of network devices , and diversity of devices, creates significant complexity.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A list of authorized resellers with points of contact (POC’s) was requested and received from the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) HCL Technologies. To avoid a lapse in service this justification was prepared prior to FBO posting.

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

Previous acquisitions were sole source from IBM, they have since sold BigFix and the AVP support to HCL Technologies. IBM listed the price of the BigFix AVP services on NITACC per year. The prices are based on hours/percentage of FTE, travel, days on site/ number of onsite visits, and the software the AVP is supporting. Market research and historical information has proven the anticipated cost is fair and reasonable by reviewing past contracts/ orders for similar requirements or scope showing prices below the NITACC published pricing.

Reasonableness of proposed prices will be established in accordance with FAR 15.403- 1(c)(1)(i)(B), which provides that a price is based on adequate price competition if two or more responsible offerers, competing independently submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirement and there is not any finding that the price of an otherwise successful offer is unreasonable. This requirement will be competed amongst HCL’s small business resellers.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research consisted of searching Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC’s) and GSA’s Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) for vendors able to provide the AVP support.

Contract Action Reports (CAR) from FPDS-NG were also reviewed for any AVP support services, all were provided by IBM.

IBM has since sold the BigFix Software and AVP services to HCL Technologies who does not have a GSA FSS. HCL was contacted directly to inquire if there are any resellers of the AVP support services. HCL stated it has partnered with Immixgroup and many small businesses that are subsidiaries of Immixgroup, as authorized resellers of the AVP services for BigFix.

Therefore, this will be competed amongst HCL authorized resellers as a small business set-aside.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

The current support will expire on October 31, 2019. The Request for Quotation will be posted to FBO as a small business set-aside for HCL AVP authorized resellers.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

None.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The Government anticipates competition between the HCL AVP authorized resellers.