140G0123D0005_JFOFOC_Posting_1.pdf

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Office of Acquisition and Grants - National Acquisition Branch, plans to contract by means other than full and open competition. This document sets forth the justification and approval for use of one of the exceptions to full and open competition allowed under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) of 1984.

2. Nature of Action Being Approved. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Mission Area (WMA), requests award of a non-competitive, sole-source, 10-year contract to Aquatic Informatics Inc. This is a follow-on contract to G12PC00044 which was awarded through full and open competition to Aquatic Informatics September 20, 2012, G16PC00037 which was awarded non-competitively to Aquatic Informatics April 15, 2016, and G16PC00037/P00007 modification/2-year extension that was approved on March 30, 2021.

3. Description of Supplies or Services. The contract will provide for continued Support and Maintenance of the Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) AQUARIUS product family and for further customization of the software as required for the National Water Information System (NWIS) Program within the WMA. AQUARIUS software has replaced NWIS legacy systems used by WMA for the acquisition, processing, analysis, and dissemination of hydrologic data. Implementation of the replacement for the legacy Automated Data Processing System (ADAPS) was completed in FY 2016.

Replacement of the legacy Water-Quality System (QWDATA) is in progress and scheduled to be completed in FY 2023. Other legacy NWIS systems may be replaced with AQUARIUS software over the life of the contract as resources are available.

4. Estimated Dollar Value. $39,900,000.00

5. Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded without full and open competition under 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented in FAR 6.302-1.

6. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5. Through the competitive request for proposal (RFP) process, the WMA acquired an unlimited license for the AQUARIUS time series software and the option to purchase other related systems and/or pursue contract programming services with the award of contract G12PC00044 to Aquatic Informatics (AQI) in September 2012. This contract was replaced by a new sole-source five-year contract (G16PC00037) in April 2015, after the original contract reached its ceiling ($10.4 million). The second contract ceiling of $19.95 million was not met nearing the end of contract and a no cost two-year extension of the contract was put in place in March 2021 to expire March 31, 2023.

Initially, the contracts were used to replace the legacy ADAPS software system. This system is part of the National Water Information System and is integral to the processing of time-series data, including streamflow and other core network data. In addition to being a critical application in the daily workflow of over 1500 hydrographers within the Water Mission Area, it is integrated as the heart of a complex data processing chain that encompasses satellite and modem telemetry data ingestion through to web data delivery systems. The project to replace ADAPS with AQUARIUS spanned five years and cost over $24 million. These expenses were split 50/50 between contract costs and internal costs. Contract costs ($12 million) were spent on (a) initial licensing, (b) software modifications to support required USGS workflow needs, and (c) annual support. Internal costs ($12 million) were spent on (a) working with the vendor on software modifications, (b) integration of the software into the USGS data processing architecture, (c) IT resources to support testing and implementation, and (d) data migration, rollout, and user training. Since 2017, the USGS continues to spend approximately $1.5 million per year in contract costs to further enhance the software and for annual support.

In 2018, the decision was made to replace the legacy QWDATA system with AQUARIUS Samples using the existing contract. AQUARIUS Samples is a sister product to the AQUARIUS product that was implemented to replace ADAPS. AQUARIUS Samples is designed to handle data from discrete samples, in contrast to AQUARIUS which handles sensor-based time-series data. QWDATA is the legacy-NWIS system to support the processing and storage of discrete (lab) sample data. As with the time-series system, it is integral to the workflow of WMA hydrographers and must be integrated into a complex data processing chain, including an array of Lab Information Management Systems (LIMS). The modernization project for discrete sample data is expected to conclude near the end of the current 7 year extended contract. The total cost of the project is estimated at $13 million, again split approximately 50/50 between contract and internal expenses. The components of the contract and internal expenses will match those for the original ADAPS replacement project noted above.

The government has made a significant investment in the AQUARIUS and AQUARIUS Samples packages to support USGS needs. While the level of investment was unknown at the time of the original contact, the need for this investment was clearly seen in the initial RFP and the final vendor selection based, in part, on their ability to address these enhancement needs. The USGS has several requirements which, when combined, make its needs unique in the marketplace. Among these requirements are:

Massive scale (the USGS is, by far, the largest provider of water data in the world) USGS fundamental science practices Water Mission Area data processing policies DOI security and other IT requirements

AQUARIUS Time-Series and AQUARIUS Samples are proprietary products and not available through resellers. Aquatic Informatics does have a strategic partnership program of AQUARIUS Certified Integrators (http://aquaticinformatics.com/partners/.) However, AQI has made fundamental enhancements and revisions to the proprietary AQUARIUS Time-Series and AQUARIUS Samples products specifically to meet the needs of USGS; an integrator would not be able to provide this service. This custom work is required for full roll out of the software to the WMA offices and in order to provide a return on the $41,300,000 investment that has been directly ($22.7M) and indirectly ($18.6M) invested in adapting AQUARIUS Time-Series and AQUARIUS Samples for USGS use to date. The investment in enhancements in the existing software has helped to tailor it to existing USGS data processing workflow and to facilitate integration with other USGS systems, this is critical to the realization of a complete return on investment. The need to make this kind of investment in enhancements and integrations was anticipated at the start of the original contract and was clearly articulated in the RFP, with the final vendor selection based, in part, on their ability to address these needs for enhancements to support USGS business rules, processes, and needed integrations to USGS systems.

Under G12PC00044 and G16PC00037, Aquatic Informatics has spent the last 9 years enhancing their products to meet the specific requirements of the USGS. Competition resulting in a new software package at this stage would result in starting the integration and enhancement process over from the beginning without allowing the USGS to realize any return on the work already done. Even if re-competition would result in a software package that had ongoing licensing or subscription costs lower than AQUARIUS, those savings are far less than that needed to offset what would then become the unrecoverable cost of the enhancement and integration work already performed. Further, as experience with 2 major software modernization projects has shown, software migration projects take time and careful consideration to execute effectively. ADAPS modernization was a 5-year effort; QWDATA modernization will be a 4.5 year effort when it completes in 2023. USGS could not change vendors on a short time scale even if a slightly lower cost vendor was identified using a competitive process.

While there are a limited number of vendors who offer systems that provide the broad data processing requirements of the WMA, any commercial system would require a similar amount of investment to meet the specific needs of the WMA. In addition, any replacement system would require a re-investment in user training, data migration, and other transition costs. For comparison, the transition from ADAPS to AQUARIUS required over 50 week-long on-site training classes with approximately 1,500 attendees.

Completion and selection of a new vendor prior to the realization of the return on investment in the current system is not in the financial interest of the USGS.

As was noted in the original request for proposal, “... This is expected to be a once-in-a-generation change and the selected system is expected to have a life well beyond the length of the initial contract.” Vendors were thus clearly informed of the government’s desires and intentions at the time of the original solicitation.

7. Other Information. The U.S. Geological Survey serves the Nation by providing reliable unbiased scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. The Water Mission Area of USGS provides reliable, impartial, timely information that is needed to understand the quantity and quality of the Nation’s water resources. These data are used to make decisions that impact health and safety by other agencies in the Department of Interior; numerous other Federal agencies; State, and local governments; consultants; and private citizens. The processing of water data supported by this acquisition must be done by the USGS to assure that water data are consistent, reliable, and readily available to all.

8. The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted.

Hydrologic data processing is very specialized and is subject to stringent standards and procedures. There is not a big market for this type of software. Extensive market research, including a Request for Information (RFI) was done in 2017 prior to selection of the existing contract as the means to replace the QWDATA system with AQUARIUS Samples. The results of that market research were consistent with similar research (and RFI) prior to the original 2012 contract – namely, that while there are a few commercial systems that broadly meet the needs of the USGS, none could be implemented with the WMA without extensive modification to support our needs. Those modifications and other implementation costs outweigh the acquisition costs of any savings hoped to be achieved through competition. No new commercial systems have been identified since the last RFI.

9. Future Plans to Permit Competition. The USGS continues to evaluate the legacy component systems in NWIS on a case-by-case basis. While the existing contract covers use across the full spectrum of NWIS systems, as the QWDATA replacement example shows, the USGS has and will continue to make independent assessments, each of which could lead to release of a competitive RFP and implementation of a new commercial product.

In addition, the WMA actively works with national and international organizations such as the World Meteorological Organization and Open Geospatial Consortium in the development of data standards and workflow processes and actively promotes the use of these standards and processes in software systems.

As these standards mature and as the market responds, it will lower transition and integration costs, making regular competition of sub-systems much more cost effective. Those standards may also make development of open-source USGS solutions more feasible.