47QTCB23Q0010 Brand Name Justification.pdf

SOLE SOURCE (BRAND NAME) JUSTIFICATION FOR

ACQUISITIONS UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

Information Technology Category (ITC)

Bloomberg Anywhere Subscription to Support Cyber

Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM)

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

The General Service Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Information Technology

Category (ITC) requires access to a commercially available automated platform to assist in identifying cyber risks within GSA’s supply chain, supply chain illumination, and associated technical and industry support. ITC operates at the core of the GSA’s mission to leverage the buying power of the federal government to acquire the best value for taxpayers and federal customers. To support GSA and accomplish the mission, ITC uses innovative techniques and leverages governmentwide buying power, acquisition expertise, and electronic tools to successfully deliver new and existing services, products, and solutions.

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, and new legislative and policy drivers come to bear, ITC will need to be positioned to implement newer and more sophisticated risk management strategies across the portfolio. The IT Security Subcategory (ITSS) will enhance the ITC Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management

(C-SCRM) Program to drive efficiency in the acquisition process (incorporation of requirements from relevant legislation and clauses such as the SECURE Technology Act, John S. McCain National Defense

Authorization Act (NDAA), E.O. 13873 Securing the Information and Communications Technology and

Services Supply Chain), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Develop program and processes for operationalizing vendor risk assessments across all ITC subcategories to efficiently identify vendors currently at risk on the Multiple

Award Schedule (MAS). To mature the ITC C-SCRM Program, ITC is striving to implement new and more sophisticated risk management strategies across the portfolio.

The contracting activity is ITC, 1800 F Street NW Washington, DC 20405.

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

Section 889 of the NDAA prohibits the federal government, government contractors, and grant and loan recipients from procuring or using certain “covered telecommunication equipment or services” that are produced by the following companies or their subsidiaries and affiliates: Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology

Company, or Dahua Technology Company as a “substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system.”

Sec. 889(a)(1)(A) required the federal government, as of August 13, 2019, to not “procure or obtain or extend or renew a contract to procure or obtain any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunication equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system,” produced by any of the Chinese companies listed above.

Sec. 889(a)(1)(B), which went into effect on August 13, 2020, prohibits the federal government from entering into or extending or renewing contracts with any entity that “uses any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunication equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any

DocuSign Envelope ID: F89B8B00-FFF9-40B6-8337-B8671508D9EF system, or as critical technology as part of any system,” produced by any of the Chinese companies listed.

To comply with the NDAA, GSA prioritized Section 889 implementation by developing internal policy, updating systems, and rapidly modifying existing contracts affected by these prohibitions. For continuing efforts to implement Section 889, ITC relies on several vendor risk assessments tools, such as the web-based tool, “Bloomberg Anywhere.”

The scope of the subject contract is to obtain supply chain risk management subscription services. The

Government requires the identification and monitoring of critical infrastructure, Information

Communication Technology (ICT) and ICT services and solutions, and their extended supply chains to assess connections and interdependencies of the supply chain ecosystem, as well as the Government’s industrial base of vendors for critical technologies. Identification of supply chain relationships and associated analytic assistance is needed to identify risk.

The Government intends to award a firm fixed price (FFP) contract with a 12-month base period and one

12-month option period.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S

NEEDS

The Bloomberg Anywhere subscriptions are required for continued support and maturation of the ITC C-

SCRM program. These subscriptions will facilitate continuous monitoring for pre-award and post-award

C-SCRM considerations while maintaining support for NDAA Section 889 and the GSA Information

Technology (IT) Security Procedural Guide for GSA’s C-SCRM Program.

ITC requires three (3) subscriptions for two years. The two-year cost is approximately $160K.

4. AUTHORITY CITED

This document serves as a justification for sole source (brand name) acquisition of commercial products and services conducted pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b); justified and approved in accordance with FAR

13.106-1(b)(1)(i).

5. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED

This requirement includes the need for a vendor risk assessment tool to support cyber and supply chain risk management that provides consistency in risk scoring methodology currently being used and a steady security posture for GSA vendors providing critical services to the Government. ITC has determined that

Bloomberg Anywhere subscriptions will satisfy the agency’s need and is the most appropriate commercial item to support the ITC C-SCRM program. This essential support is required to implement the GSA

Enterprise-Level C-SCRM Strategic Plan dated March 29, 2021, and The Federal Acquisition Supply Chain

Security Act of 2018. ITC is implementing Strategic Risk Management Programs to manage supply chain risks for the entire ITC portfolio.

Although Bloomberg is known to provide reliable data, information, and news in the financial industry, this contract requirement is focused on the insight that the Bloomberg Anywhere subscription provides into vital supply chain business intelligence data that is critical to assist the U.S. government to identify cases where current vendors and/or potential offerors may have business relationships with prohibited entities, to include information on foreign ownership or prohibited supply sources. ITC requires a subscription with robust research capabilities that illuminates the relationship between government customers and vendors providing solutions to government agencies via contracts. Bloomberg Anywhere subscription is the only solution identified as capable of offering this level of insight into supplier relationships and global corporate business intelligence which is specifically applicable to a comprehensive C-SCRM program for an organization managing such a large IT portfolio as ITC must manage.

Use of the Bloomberg Anywhere subscription will be used to facilitate the development of a more proactive risk management posture for the ITC portfolio. Additionally, this information will improve compliance with NDAA Section 889 and advance the maturity of ITC C-SCRM programs and activities. ITC currently uses several vendor risk assessment tools; however, ITC has found Bloomberg Anywhere to be somewhat unique. Bloomberg data can expedite and facilitate investigation of interrelationships between companies and their management, supply chains, and governments. Cybersecurity analysts can track an entity’s potential exposures to foreign governments using ownership, management, and corporate action information. The cybersecurity analyst can research an entity’s corporate structure and acquisition or divestiture transaction history to understand the history of how relationships were formed, as well as to identify any possible foreign risk exposure that this particular entity may have to the U.S. federal government’s supply chain. Bloomberg provides one of the largest aggregation of federal contracts available, enabling cybersecurity analysts to quickly identify which entities the U.S. government is exposed to, including at the subcontractor level, with the ability to access the original solicitation.

Additional unique capabilities differentiating Bloomberg from other vendors are as follows:

● Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) research covers more than 130 industries with a comprehensive industry-specific data library, interactive charting and written analysis from a team of industry experts.

● Map parent and subsidiary relationships, to expose an entity’s ties to global public and private and flagging for foreign government ownership for prohibited vendor relationships.

● Provides a three-level authentication protocol, currently in use within a Sensitive Compartmented

Information Facility (SCIF) environment. Biometric authentication using a portable fingerprint scanner.

● News from Bloomberg and 185,000 global sources with built-in translations, alerts, trend analysis, sentiment scoring, keyword/topic mention count, readership, and publication statistics.

● A library of over 3 million professional’s profiles, covering career histories, business relationships, board affiliations and education.

● Relationship coverage - Over 450,000 unique relationships and 400 datasets capable of being plotted and viewed via a data visualization platform.

● Global Coverage - Over 23,000 public companies globally and more than 100,000 private companies. Creates a detailed, global network of supply chain relationships, multiple levels deep, for improved analysis of risk and investment opportunities.

● Federal Government Contract Intelligence - Find government contracts and grants that deal targets and acquirers have been involved with since 2000, with more than 300,000 contractors and subcontractor connections to programs and places of performance.

● Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) - manages the risks and opportunities created by changing conditions, such as shifts in environmental, economic, and social systems.

● Provides a supply chain module (SPLC) for Supply Chain Analysis for over 5.7 million corporate entities, including government contractors and subcontractors.

Bloomberg’s unique capabilities will augment the vendor risk assessment tool suite currently in use;

Bloomberg displays its uniqueness by providing robust research capabilities that illuminates the relationship between government agencies and the suppliers providing services on government contracts.

Additionally, given the nature of internet connected devices across all of ITC’s supply chain and categories of spend, there will be an ongoing need for ITC to have a third-party risk detection and mitigation capability to remain a trusted, secure source for federal agencies and the taxpayer. M-22-16 Administration

Cybersecurity Priorities for the FY 2024 Budget stresses the need to continue investment to address information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain risk. Bloomberg Anywhere will provide vital Business Intelligence information to help ITC identify instances where current contractors and/or potential offerors may have business relationships with prohibited entities, to include information on foreign ownership or prohibited supply sources. ITC will use this information in concert with other sources of information to facilitate a more proactive risk management posture regarding the ITC portfolio.

In summary, ITC has a need to procure Bloomberg Anywhere subscriptions to more thoroughly evaluate vendor risk factors that are utilized in the vendor risk assessments. The comprehensive aggregation of federal government contracts and supply chain datasets for in-depth analysis are unique to Bloomberg and the three (3) licenses are needed to augment the existing assessment of contractor’s security risk posture, potentially creating unnecessary gaps in the supply chain risk security of programs.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN COMPETITION

In order to promote competition for this acquisition, a notice of intent to award a sole source contract action to Bloomberg Finance L.P will be posted (along with the brand name justification) to the Governmentwide

Point of Entry (https://www.sam.gov) in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(3). This notice will provide an opportunity for interested parties to submit a written response to include a general statement that their company can provide the required items, Bloomberg Anywhere subscriptions. Then, a determination by

GSA regarding the best approach to procure future proposed contract actions is based upon responses to the notice and solely within the discretion of the Government. All information received will be considered only for the purpose of determining to procure this requirement competitively in the future.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

The anticipated price for this requirement will be fair and reasonable. Before award, the following techniques will be utilized to determine fair and reasonable prices: 1. FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(i), Market research; 2. FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii), Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases; and 3. FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vi), Comparison to an independent government cost estimate.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS

Market research was conducted by reviewing the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), the Federal

Procurement Data System (FPDS), and the Small Business Administration's Dynamic Small Business

Search (DSBS). Search results from both SAM.gov and FPDS revealed only non-competitive (sole source brand-name) opportunities and no results from the DSBS inquiry. GSA also questioned Bloomberg about vendors authorized to sell its Anywhere subscription and Bloomberg responded with a letter (See

Attachment 1) dated 17 April 2023 stating the required web-based subscription was solely provided by

Bloomberg L.P. (i.e., no authorized reseller available).

In addition, GSA conducted further market research on GSA Advantage to include contacting the site’s customer service requesting assistance with a more extensive search; on 21 April 2023, the customer representative provided an email (See Attachment 2) stating “Per your request, I am sending you this email to confirm that Bloomberg Anywhere is not in the GSA eLibrary, and the website license is not on

GSAAdvantage.gov for purchase.” Lastly, GSA utilized the Interagency Contract Directory (ICD) located at www.contractdirectory.gov; a central repository of Indefinite Delivery Vehicles (IDV) awarded by the

Federal agencies where the IDV is available for use at both the intra agency and interagency levels. IDVs include Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC), Multi-Agency Contracts, Other Indefinite

Delivery Contracts (IDC), Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA), and

Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA). The ICD market research for IDVs resulted in no opportunities for vendors (other than Bloomberg) to offer the required subscription.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION

Not Applicable

10. A LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN

THE ACQUISITION

Not Applicable

11. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION

Prior to the exercise of each option year, all efforts will be made by the Government to assess alternate sources for supply. ITC will monitor the market and re-evaluate the requirement to see if other solutions can be used in order to increase competition. In addition, as technology changes and improves, alternate brands or solutions may become feasible, which will assist in removing barriers to competition.

12. CERTIFICATIONS

PROGRAM MANAGER CERTIFICATION:

I verify that the above supporting data that is the responsibility of technical personnel (verifying the

Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for this sole source (brand name) justification), which forms the basis for this justification are certified as accurate and complete.

Albert Ingram

Program Manager

Date

CONTRACTING OFFICER APPROVAL:

In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), the undersigned determines that the circumstances of this sole source (brand name) contract action deem only one source reasonably available and the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. Further, I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

7/31/2023

Randy Solomon

Contracting Officer

Date

7/31/2023