36C10B19Q0576-002.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

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

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, New Jersey 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a sole source, firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract with Herbert W. Merrill dba Merrill Consultants (Merrill) for renewals of Merrill Software Subscription and Support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information and Technology has the requirement for two renewals of Merrill MXG Software Subscription and Support. These renewals are required for continual use, maintenance releases, version releases, and upgrades to the MXG software currently utilized in VA Data Centers located in Austin TX, and Philadelphia, PA. MXG software is utilized to read raw data in IBM System Management Facility (SMF) data records and organizes this statistical data into a performance database. The licensing and support will allow for continual use of the software product, commercial software patches and updates, and phone and email technical support from 8:00AM to 7:00PM Central Standard Time. The period of performance shall be one 12-month base period with four (4) 12-month option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source for this action is Herbert W. Merrill dba Merrill Consultants (Merrill), 10717 Cromwell Drive Dallas, Texas, 75229. The current VA data centers in Philadelphia and Austin currently utilize MXG software for performance analysis. This software is the only software integrated with VA's current infrastructure and reporting systems and replacing MXG software with any other software would require a custom system integration effort that is expected to require no less than 30 days to complete. The time and effort required for the installation, integration, and testing of any new software would result in a loss of data center performance metrics and would significantly disrupt data center services and accounting. Replacement of the MXG software will result in the aforementioned delivery delay of no less than 30 days and will also result in duplication of costs greater than $50K to replace MXG license renewals and MXG software support. Merrill does not have any authorized resellers of its products. The MXG software is proprietary to Merrill and only Merrill has access to or is able to modify the MXG software source code. Without access to the proprietary software source code, continual software use, new MXG versions, MXG patches, and MXG support cannot be provided.

Merrill Software Maintenance; TAC-20-54733

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, the details of which are in section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements; therefore, no competition is anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) Page in accordance with FAR 5.201 and this Justification will be posted on FBO within 14 days after award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the agency will work with the program office to perform additional market research so that other solutions can be considered.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted by VA technical experts in April 2019. The VA technical experts conducted market research via a web search of similar software suites to ascertain if similar Statistical Analysis Software providers could provide the requisite support. Specifically, VA technical experts reviewed the technical capabilities of CA MICS Resource Management software and Tableau Statistical Analysis Software. Though these software suites had similar technical capabilities, it was determined that neither of these software suites provided the required integration with the VA data centers, and neither of the providers could provide the required support or licensing to the integrated MXG software without access to the MXG source code. The VA technical experts contacted Merrill consultants in April 2019 to determine whether Merrill Consultants utilized any authorized resellers of the MXG software.

Representatives from Merrill advised there are no authorized resellers of the MXG software; as such, Merrill is the only provider of the required MXG software. This was confirmed when the Contract Specialist was advised via email on June 28, 2019 that Merrill is the sole reseller of the MXG Software License in the United States.

9. Other Facts: None