NNG15SD22B-145.pdf

Laurel Bridge Software Maintenance Control Number TAC-19-52923

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price (FFP) delivery order issued under a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Laurel Bridge enterprise Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Connectivity Framework (DCF) Local Server Run-time License software maintenance.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology , Information Technology Operations and Services, has a requirement for the renewal of existing maintenance support of 1200 currently fielded Laurel Bridge DICOM DCF Local Server Run-time software licenses. The VA utilizes Laurel Bridge DCF software to develop Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) imaging applications for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. Required software maintenance and support includes periodic updates, enhancements, and corrections to the software as well as technical/help-desk support. No software will be procured or renewed under this proposed action. The period of performance for Laurel Bridge DCF software maintenance shall be one 12-month base period followed by two 12-month option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized”.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on the market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it has been determined that limited competition is available among resellers for the required Laurel Bridge software maintenance on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. VA utilizes Laurel Bridge DCF software to develop VistA imaging applications for all VHA facilities. The maintenance of the existing software is critical in ensuring that the DICOM application is operational and accessible with minimal interruption of services. To maintain the existing Laurel Bridge software, a source must have access to its proprietary source code to provide the required support, configuration, and software updates. No other source has the capability of developing and issuing software updates due to the proprietary nature of the source code. In addition, any other source would need access to this code to ensure all services provided are properly configured. Therefore, only Laurel Bridge, or its authorized resellers, are capable of providing the required maintenance support services for the currently fielded software.

Laurel Bridge Software Maintenance Control Number TAC-19-52923

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this justification. It was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for the required brand name Laurel Bridge maintenance support services. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), notice of award of this action will be synopsized and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A), this justification will be posted with the request for quotation on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website to notify all interested parties.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the government will continue to perform market research to determine if there is any new software maintenance and support available that would enable future requirements to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research during October 2018 by reviewing maintenance support services available from other manufacturers of software products similar to Laurel Bridge. Specifically, the Government’s technical experts reviewed products and services available from ezDICOM, MRIcron, and ABLE to determine whether any other sources can provide software maintenance support on the existing Laurel Bridge Software. Based on this review of similar brand name software products and services it was determined that no other source could provide software maintenance support for the Laurel Bridge licenses as every other source, other than Laurel Bridge’s resellers, lacked access to the proprietary source code necessary to provide the required support, configuration, and software updates. Only Laurel Bridge or its authorized resellers can access the proprietary source code in order to maintain the currently fielded Laurel Bridge Licenses.

In addition, The Government utilized the Provider Lookup Tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website in October 2018 and found a total of three resellers for Laurel Bridge products and services, all of which are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

9. Other Facts: None.