JA - Redacted.pdf

Chicago Soft MVS/QuickRef Software Maintenance VA-26-00000213

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, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a new sole source, firm-fixed priced (FFP) contract to provide sole source Chicago Soft, LTD (CSL) MVS/QuickRef Software Maintenance support. The Program Office requires the procurement of MVS/QuickRef Software Maintenance from Chicago Soft, LTD, 2456 Christian St, U1, White River Junction, VT 05001 which is a small business.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OlT), Infrastructure Operations (IO) requires continued software maintenance from CSL for software products currently in use at VA. The software maintenance is necessary for IO to receive software upgrades and updates to existing software to include major releases, point releases, service releases and security releases on a quarterly basis, and/or within forty-eight (48) hours in cases where a high-risk vulnerability fix is required. The Contractor shall provide one (1) telephone number and/or a point of contact for VA to contact and initiate maintenance service calls. The vendor shall provide secure connection capabilities for the downloading of software updates and/or the uploading of diagnostic information. The base period of performance is 12-months from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.

This effort also includes four (4) 12-month option periods. The anticipated total price of the proposed action is $372,521.66, inclusive of all option periods.

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: The proposed source is Chicago Soft, LTD, 2456 Christian St, U1, White River Junction, VT 05001. Based upon market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that only CSL has the capability to satisfy VA’s requirements. The current IO infrastructure is based on existing CSL software and VA requires support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. Only CSL can provide the necessary software updates because of the proprietary source code required to develop and implement software updates. No other source is capable of providing the required software maintenance that meets VA's requirements. Current infrastructure is based on existing CSL software and VA requires maintenance support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational compliance. Only

CSL can provide the necessary software updates because of the proprietary source code required to develop and implement software updates. No other license is compatible with or interoperable with the existing CSL proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces. Therefore, only CSL can exclusively provide the software maintenance that meets the existing VA software maintenance requirement.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 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. In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(c)(1)(ii)(c) and 5.102(a)(6) this justification shall be posted with the solicitation. Furthermore, the proposed action will be synopsized on the 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 marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government's technical experts conducted market research in November 2024 by reviewing similar software maintenance support services and ascertained that other brands cannot meet VA's current software maintenance requirements. In addition, the CSL quote dated July 30, 2025 confirms that this existing service is only available through CSL. The Government's technical experts also conducted web-based research on File-Aide and CA Vantage and determined these products do not satisfy the VA's support requirements because only CSL has access to the proprietary database, structure, protocols and software application programming interfaces specific to the maintenance needed for the existing software. At present, there is no other software maintenance available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement. In addition, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software is available. Based on these market research efforts, the Government's technical experts have determined that only the CSL software maintenance can meet all the VA's needs. Additionally, on November 4, 2024 a sole source letter was provided by CSL which confirms that there are no authorized resellers or designated distributors for the required MVS/QuickRef software maintenance because CSL has proprietary control over MVS/QuickRef software maintenance; the CSL quote dated July 30, 2025 also confirms that title to this product remains exclusively with CSL.

Additional market research was conducted by the Contract Specialist in July 2025 utilizing the Provider Lookup Tool in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurements (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) which yielded three (3) contract holders as providers of CSL products. One (1) was in Contract Group A and D and the other two (2) were in Contract Group C. However, on November 4, 2024 a sole source letter was provided by CSL which confirms that there are no authorized resellers or designated distributors for MVS/QuickRef software maintenance because CSL has proprietary control over MVS/QuickRef software maintenance.

Based on the information above, Chicago-Soft, LTD is the only known company that can satisfy the requirements.

9. Other Facts: N/A

10. 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.

Dawn Sturtz Program Manager

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2), via (ii) comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for the same or similar items, (iv) comparison with competitive published price lists, published market prices of commodities, similar indexes, and discount or rebate arrangements, and/or (v) comparison of proposed prices with independent Government cost estimates.

Matthew J. Truex Contracting Officer

12. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. This contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $750,000, therefore, the certification required by FAR 6.304(a)(1) serves as the Contracting Officer’s approval.

Matthew J. Truex Contracting Officer