A16_LSJ_PBGC_VAO_Licenses_Redacted_1.pdf

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6 and 40 U.S.C. 501

140D0425Q0186

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Limited-Sources Justification.”

The Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate is executing this action on behalf of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), Procurement Department (PD). An interagency agreement has been established for this this and other transactions supporting PBGC.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

PBGC PD has a requirement for the purchase of a Virtual Acquisition Office (VAO) package that includes 25 software subscription licenses and two inquiries Point of Contacts (POCs) on a limited source basis.

The two POCs are two designated PBGC personnel of your choosing who will be notified via email when a PBGC VAO subscriber submits an inquiry. Inquiry POCs are responsible for reviewing the question and confirming 1) if VAO should proceed with researching the question, or 2) if PBGC prefers to answer the question internally.

Agencies typically may designate someone in policy to serve as an Inquiry POC, but it is at PBGC’s discretion who to assign to these roles. There is no limit to the number of inquiries that can be submitted.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs

(including the estimated value).

The 25 VAO software subscription licenses and two inquiries will be used to educate, train, and assist acquisition and support personnel in PBGC’s Procurement Department.

The Contractor will provide the following:

• Access for subscribers to submit acquisition questions and issues to be researched

• Daily acquisition news from a review of over 200 websites each morning

• From the Hill up-to-date review of congressional and legislative activity pertaining to the acquisition community

• Access to the VAO Resource Library

• Toolkits (COR, Countdown to Contracting Award, Program Management, IDIQs)

• Proprietary VAO Publications

• On-call research support (unlimited access)

• My Learning Center online learning

• Timeless training online learning management system

• Workforce Development Center

• Online Calendar

• Access to the library of acquisition topics

• Attendance for two at VAO’s full-day annual conference

• Access to the VAO Ally generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool

• Inquiries allow the government to submit up to two questions to VAO through the

VAO inquiry function; the VAO provides access to subject matter experts to provide factual, objective information in response to the question in a timely manner.

The required license period is for one 12-month Base Period, and four 12-month Option Periods for a total of 60 months. The estimated value of the Order will be .

The pricing below is the package pricing which includes the licenses and inquiries.

License Period Price

Base Period Option Period 1 Option Period 2 Option Period 3 Option Period 4

Total

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)B - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

A review of GSA Advantage and GSA eBuy was conducted. It was determined that only Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, has the ability to provide the required subscription services. No authorized distributors or resellers are available. Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, provided documentation stating that they are the sole provider of the VAO subscription licenses and inquiries.

The following table shows a comparison of similar services and how they differ from one another:

Website Offers

Acquisition News

Offers Training

Offers Acquisition

Tools

Offers Access to Acquisition

SMEs www.federaltimes.com Yes No No No www.fai.gov No Yes Yes No www.gotovao.com Yes Yes Yes Yes www.gsa.gov No Yes Yes No

VAO offers all four categories while the other similar services do not.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and services rates under Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, there is no need for the Contracting Officer to make a separate determination of fair and reasonable pricing. However, prior to award the Contracting Officer will ensure the prices quoted are consistent with pricing on the vendor’s FSS and they are determined fair and reasonable.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The purpose of the market research was to identify potential sources for the required VAO licenses. The availability and prices of the service were validated by the market research. A review of the web-based government GSA site identified Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, as the only potential source of the licenses. Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, confirmed to be the sole provider of the licenses via an email dated December 2, 2024. The result of the market research confirmed that only Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, can provide the required licenses.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The specifications for the VAO licenses are available from only one vendor on GSA.

The licenses are for a vendor specific software application. Additionally, there are no other distributors or resellers of the software licenses.

The VAO licenses from Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLCprovide current and relevant acquisition information to decision-makers in PBGC’s Procurement Department

(PD).

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for supplies and services is made.

Although the VAO licenses being requested are only available from one vendor, in order to remove or overcome any barriers to competition for subsequent acquisitions for VAO licenses, the PD will review the GSA website to determine the availability of alternative acquisition knowledge-based services