36C10B20Q0109-002.pdf

Control Number TAC-20-57706

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 sole source action is for a firm-fixed-price contract for the renewal of brand name RSMeans Online Complete Full Library On- Premises Installation software and maintenance from RSMeans Company LLC, doing business as Gordian, located at 1099 Hingham Street, Suite 201, Rockland, MA 02370-3319.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Center for Engineering and Occupational Safety and Health (CEOSH), has a requirement for the renewal and continued support of the RSMeans construction and maintenance cost estimating software that is currently operating on VA servers behind the VA firewall. The projected current users for the base and option periods is 750; however, the software shall be capable of serving a maximum of 800 active unique VA users. The Contractor shall allow additional users to be added throughout the base and option periods up to the quantity of “not to exceed 50 users” via exercise of an Optional Task in each period. The Contractor shall provide technical expertise to assist VA with updating the existing RSMeans Online Complete Full Library On-Premises Installation software on VA computers/network.

The Contractor shall also assist VA on the cost data updates and all required software updates. The Contractor shall provide software updates to operate on future versions of Internet Explorer when VA changes the Operating System and Web Browser during the contract period or be backward compatible. The period of performance shall be 12 months from date of award with three 12-month option periods and one optional task for additional software licenses.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on extensive market research, as described in Section 8 of this document, it was determined that competition is not viable, as RSMeans Online Complete Full Library On- Premises Installation software and maintenance is the only software that meets the required functions and features for CEOSH. No cost estimating software other than RSMeans has the performance capability to provide the vast amounts of material and labor data required by VA for specific geographic regions. The software is required to perform key functions, such as allowing user access

RSMeans Online Complete Full Library Control Number TAC-20-57706 On-Premises Installation through single sign-on capability; save and retrieve current and past estimates on-line via a secure environment; allow for estimates to be converted to Excel format, estimates are easily copied, printed and emailed within the software; and the software is able to estimate unit price, editable/custom assemblies, editable/ custom square foot models, along with user defined cost data. There is no other brand of software that can meet all of these requirements. RSMeans provides the data as on-line access to its database. The secure environment which is currently located behind the VA firewall is a must to protect the VA construction data and cost estimates. No other vendor has the capability to provide all the required features of RSMeans online behind the VA firewall. VA’s behind-the-firewall installation is a unique version of RSMeans Online (RSMO) which incorporates all the necessary dependencies in a single system thus decoupling it from the Gordian platform. VA installation has a separate and proprietary process for handling system upgrades and associated user created data migrations. Designed as a multiservice/multicomponent system, this RSMeans Online deployment requires the special expertise and skills of the software development team in order to properly install, upgrade and configure. RSMeans data features are exclusive to Gordian commercial products (specifically, RSMeans Online), including square foot models, lifecycle costing, and predictive costs. Of these, square foot models and lifecycle costing are features of VA’s behind-the-firewall installation. VA OI&T makes all software changes and data uploads due to VA firewall. RSMeans guides and assists VA OI&T during the maintenance of the software. There is no other brand that can provide the required maintenance of the existing RSMeans licenses due to the exclusive rights of the RSMeans software that is currently fielded throughout VA. In addition, other VA facilities use RSMeans for their cost estimating which allows for compatibility between those offices and the estimates derived from CEOSH.

Based on the above, there is no other brand of software and maintenance that can meet all of VA’s requirements and Gordian is the sole source provider of the database licenses and maintenance.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements.

There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the System for Award Management’s Contracting Opportunities page in accordance with FAR 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: In September 2019, the Government’s technical experts conducted market research. The market research included a thorough review of various websites to ascertain if there are other similar construction estimating software products that can meet VA’s requirements. Specifically, VA technical experts spoke with representatives at ACCA Software, Xactimate, Proest Soft, Viewpoint, and Corecon V7. None of the software packages meet all of VA’s functional needs. Specifically, only RSMeans software provides regional cost information that is automatically updated throughout the year, with instant access to labor, material and equipment costs from RSMeans’ comprehensive database and software which can be provided behind the VA firewall.

Further Market Research was conducted on November 18, 2019 by posting a Request for Information (RFI) to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), Group B2, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) vendors, which provided the Product Description (PD). The RFI closed on November 26, 2019 with no responses received. On November 18, 2019, RFI 36C10B20Q0049 was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities Page which provided a description of the work and requested information describing the company’s previous experience providing these services to similarly sized organizations, capability to meet proposed transition/implementation timelines, and capability to meet the requirements. Vendors were also requested to identify any current contract vehicles under which the services would be available. On November 26, 2019 one response was received: Gordian (Large Business). Gordian explained to VA they still use the RSMeans corporate entity, which is a Large Business, for RSMeans contracts. On November 26, 2019, the RFI was re-opened on NASA SEWP V GWAC to all groups, which provided the PD. The RFI was also posted on General Services Administration (GSA) schedule 70 Special Item Numbers 132-51 and 132 32 which provided a description of the work and requested information describing the company’s previous experience providing these services to similarly sized organizations, capability to meet proposed transition/implementation timelines, and capability to meet the requirements.

Vendors were also requested to identify any current contract vehicles under which the services would be available. The RFI closed on December 6, 2019 with no responses received from NASA SEWP V GWAC and one response received on GSA: Level 4 Ventures (SDVOSB).

On December 5, 2019, one RFI response was sent directly to the customer, Michael Reed, who forwarded the response to Technology Acquisition Center Contract Specialist. The response was from Principle Information Technology Company (SBA 8(a)/HubZone Certified). Government technical experts completed a thorough technical analysis of the RFI responses, which was submitted on December 17, 2019. As a result of the analysis, which was based on the capability statements provided by the vendors, the Government determined that only one vendor, RSMeans (Gordian), was deemed capable of meeting the RSMeans Software requirement. RSMeans (Gordian) is the only source with the capability of providing the data as on-line access to the database.

Level 4 Ventures is an authorized reseller; however, they do not have the exclusive rights to sell the online version of RSMeans cost estimating software required by VA. The Government technical experts determined that Principle Information Technology did not provide adequate information to properly perform a technical analysis. Additionally, Principle Information Technology is not an authorized reseller of RSMeans Company (Gordian).

The two respondents were contacted on December 20, 2019 and advised of VA’s assessment that neither could meet VA’s needs. No objections were received.

Additionally, the Government contacted Gordian and received confirmation from Gordian verifying that RSMeans Company LLC is the sole source and distributor of the RSMeans Online Complete Full Library On-Premises Installation software.

Based on the above, only RSMeans Company LLC, has the capability to provide the required software renewal and maintenance in accordance with the Government’s requirements.

9. Other Facts: None.