P03 - JA Enformion Final Redacted.pdf

ENFORMION IDENTITY VERIFICATION

Sole Source Justification Checklist Template_FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)_(18-JAN-2024)

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. This requirement will be accomplished via:

[x ] New Purchase Order

[ ] Modification No.

[ ] Purchase Card

Purchase Order will be:

[x ] Firm Fixed Price [ ] Cost Type Contract:

[ ] Time and Materials [ ] Other (Specify):

Type of Funds (e.g., Supply Fund, Franchise Fund, IT, etc.):

[x] ___IT________

3. Description of Supplies or Services.

[ X ] Supplies

Item name: ___Software Licenses__________________________________

Part of or used with: ____ENFORMION: Public Records Database

Quantity being procured: ____________90_licenses per year_________________ Option quantity, if option will be included in solicitation: ______4___________

Estimated unit cost: $____275______________________

Estimated total cost (including option quantity, if any): $______ $136,759.37 ______

4. Authority Cited.

[ X ] 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.

[ ] Other FAR Authority _________________

5. Reason for Authority Cited.

ENFORMION IDENTITY VERIFICATION: VA-25-00037859

Sole Source Justification Checklist Template_FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)_(18-JAN-2024)

Delete non applicable sections below as appropriate

The proposed source for this action is: Enformion 1915 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95811

[ X ] The supplies are urgently needed for the following reasons:

VA Insurance Service strives to provide prompt payment of Insurance benefits to Veterans and their beneficiaries. Insurance Service is required by law to: (1) improve the search tools available on the website of the Department; (2) conduct outreach to veterans, veterans service organizations, and the general public with respect to such search tools; (3) improve the processes for searching for information relating to potential recipients through internal Department sources and sources available through other Federal agencies, State government agencies, and non-government entities; and (4) ensuring the Department has sufficient dedicated staff whose primary responsibilities are identifying, locating, and paying hard-to-find beneficiaries, with the goal of disbursing by not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, all funds that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are owed to a beneficiary of a life insurance policy issued under chapter 19 of title 38, United States Code (ref. Public Law 117-313).

Usage of the Enformion Public Record Database Services is an integral part of VA Insurance Service’s operations. Insurance Service employees rely on the Enformion solution to locate Veterans and Beneficiaries to pay death claims proceeds and other liabilities, in accordance with its mission and to comply with the above referenced legislative mandate. Disruption of service or lapse of availability of the Enformion service would result in significant delays in processing death claims and would hamper efforts to locate Veterans and Beneficiaries who are entitled to receive payments.

[ x] Explain need for brand name:

Insurance Service has relied on the Enformion solution as an integral part of its death claims process for 7 years. Step by step instructions for interacting with Enformion’s unique interface have been embeeded throughout Insurance Service’s training guides and operating manuals. Insurance Service employees have received training on using the Enformion search tools and have become proficient in using the tool to locate Beneficiaries as a result of these many years of experience. For another entity to provide the required software functionality and support, the VA would incur significant additional administrative and operational costs, as Insurance Service would be required to review and update operational procedures, develop new training curriculum and materials, and remove employees from production in order to conduct additional training. This approach would directly and negatively impact operations and Veteran claims support and delivery. In order for another entity to provide the required functionality VA would have to initiate a procurement for an entirely new software solution and replace existing software platforms, infrastructure, and operational procedures, which would cost VA an estimated 1,000 hours and acquisition costs totaling approximately $100K. This action would result in additional costs which would not be recouped through competition.

Sole Source Justification Checklist Template_FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)_(18-JAN-2024)

Further, analsys of the functionality of the Enformion solution as compared to comparable products evaluated during market research, indicates significantly superior technical efficiency to fulfil Insurance Service’s business needs. The Enformion solution provides 42 different data search resources in its a standard product offering and customer services with user search reports and administrative oversight. The Enformion administration toolset provides invaluable reporting capabilities for search and login history as well as user oversight to prevent fraud. The other brands researched cannot meet the unique technical characteristics and services necessary to satisfy the immediate business needs.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition.

[X ] There is only one responsible source for this item. 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 Federal Business Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201.

Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

7. Actions to Increase Competition.

[X ] 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.

Market research was conducted by Antonina Mack during the time of FY24/25Oct in the form of internet searches and vendor information requests. Two additional vendors, Thomas Reuters and Lexis Nexis were found that provide the comparable software which could potentially satisfy business requirements. However, the total cost for the other vendors are between 100-200% over the current costs. In addition, vendor changes would require user training and SOP updates from the existing processing as discussed in paragraph 5 above which would require substantial duplication of costs and delays.

[X ] The following companies submitted data claiming that they can supply the item.

However, the government evaluation of the data resulted in a negative determination considering the significant increase in costs as discussed in paragraph five above.

[ X ] The market research consisted of the following: Web Search, Email, and Phone Contacts. The Contract Specialist reached out to the Enformion Point of Contact who stated on January 13, 2025 that currently, Enformion does not have any established authorized resellers.

9. Interested Sources.

Sole Source Justification Checklist Template_FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)_(18-JAN-2024)

[ x ] Thomas Reuters has expressed interest in supplying this item and/or service.

However, they are not being considered for this procurement for the reasons given above.

Technical/Requirements Certification I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Antonina Mack Date Contracting Officer Representative

Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on comparison to historical pricing and/or comparison to the Independent Government Estimate.

Stefanie Applegate Date Contracting Officer

Contracting Officer Certification/Approval I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Stefanie Applegate Date Contracting Officer