Archibus Brand Name JA_Redacted.pdf

Brand Name Archibus – Software Control Number VA-24-00070997

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

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 firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Archibus Enterprise Software, associated cloud hosting environment and Extended Service Agreement capable of supporting 300 concurrent users.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information Technology, Software Product Management, Benefits, Appeals and Memorials (BAM) Portfolio, Memorial Benefits and Services Product Line requires the brand name Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) brand name Archibus Enterprise Software, associated cloud hosting environment and Extended Service Agreement to support 300 concurrent VA users.

Brand name Archibus software acts as an inventory management tool for the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), allowing them to more easily track, in real-time, burial markers and other memorial benefits and services related orders. Additionally, the aforementioned software provides the ability to manage assets across the NCA enterprise by tracking its equipment, purchase orders, work orders, schedules, and warranties while instantly sharing information across the entire organization. VA BAM Portfolio requires brand name Archibus Enterprise Software and Extended Service Agreement to ensure technical support coverage and provide software updates, patches, and bug fixes for the aforementioned brand name Archibus software. This effort shall have a base period of 12-months, with two 12-month option periods. The total estimated value for this proposed action is .

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized”.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is viable among NASA SEWP resellers for the brand name Archibus Enterprise Software and Extended Service Agreement. NCA’s infrastructure is currently comprised of ManagerPlus Pro desktop software that is at end-of-life (296 Named User desktop software licenses and 80 Entity desktop software licenses) at 79 sites throughout VA.

The intended replacement system, brand name Archibus, prevents the loss of critical data while providing an enterprise solution nearing FedRAMP authorization to electronically track maintenance requirements at all VA NCA cemeteries. Important high-level requirements of the required software include:

1) the ability to distinguish between multiple organizations and sub-organizations,

2) track multiple categories and sub-categories of equipment,

3) track equipment characteristics,

4) generate maintenance schedules and checklists,

5) reconcile purchase orders,

6) track costs through preventive maintenance,

7) accomplish budget forecasting.

Any solution missing these feature sets would necessitate custom development in non-asset management configured SaaS solutions. For this reason, the NCA requires a solution already configured as a physical asset manager. Through Government research, no other software was found other than brand name Archibus that is nearing FedRAMP authorization as a SaaS solution, is already developed as a physical asset manager, and includes implementation, training, and ongoing configuration while being capable of meeting the above requirements. Brand name Archibus is built on open system architecture, allowing for optimum interoperability with pre-existing data repositories and the consolidation of multiple Microsoft Structured Query Language databases. This solution provides web-based workflow capabilities to help eliminate repetitive manual processes while enabling data collection and leveraging existing IT structures for economical automation. The scalable and modular nature of brand name Archibus enables the ability to assemble and deploy a SaaS solution that fulfills only the necessary requirements.

In order to maintain the mission-critical ability to effectively manage VA National Cemeteries, the VA must ensure a solution that is in the process of becoming FedRAMP authorized or is already FedRAMP authorized capable of two-factor authentication is in place. This solution must include associated maintenance and support to provide brand name Archibus updates, fixes, security alerts, and patches for all the named users. No source other than Archibus, through its resellers, has access to the proprietary Archibus data and source code necessary to provide the required access to software updates, fixes, security alerts, and patches and access to 24 x 7 customer support/assistance for Archibus software. The Archibus Cloud Gold Support Plan is required to maintain the integrity and security of the VA’s inventory management capabilities.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Archibus product. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

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: A justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is being sought for this action which describes the necessary and unique capabilities supporting the need for the procurement of the brand name Archibus. The Government's technical experts conducted market research from May 2023 through November 2023 by reviewing other similar software, including Oracle, OpenText, brand name Archibus, and various others. The NCA currently utilizes ManagerPlus products at 79 sites, which is at end-of-life and in a divesture state within the Technical Reference Model (TRM). The current NCA infrastructure is based on existing ManagerPlus software and VA requires support in the form of a SaaS capable of meeting or exceeding ManagerPlus’ capabilities. In terms of a replacement, a promising candidate was found in brand name Archibus through continued market research efforts. Brand name Archibus is a SaaS solution currently in the later stages of the FedRAMP authorization process. OpenText specialized in the management of IT hardware and software assets, failing to meet NCA requirements for an asset manager capable of tracking multiple categories of non-IT assets and equipment. Oracle was deemed incapable due to the need for seven pre-requisite products required for implementation including Oracle Inventory, Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Manufacturing Scheduling, etc. Additionally, Oracle’s solution fails to provide the required implementation, training, and ongoing configuration that the VA requires in an asset management solution. Through demonstration and contact with the vendor, it was determined that Archibus is the only software on track for FedRAMP authorization that can meet all requirements outlined by the NCA customer, including already being configured as a physical asset manager.

Additionally, the Contract Specialist conducted further market research by releasing a Request for Information(RFI) Number 310316 from May 28th through June 17th, 2024, on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise- Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government wide Acquistion Contract (GWAC) website as brand name or equal Archibus Software to see if there were any additional/potential solutions aside from brand name Archibus that could meet all the needs of this requirement as discussed above. Six (6) responses were received in the form of Rough Order of Magnitudes (ROMs). Two (2) of the six (6) responses were from Service- Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). All six responses provided only brand name Archibus as a solution in their ROMS. The purpose of this RFI was to see if there were any other potential solutions that could be identified aside from brand name Archibus. However, as a result of the RFI no other potential sources were identified. The RFI responses were reviewed by the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist and determined that it appeared all six (6) offerors that replied to the RFI could potentially meet the VA’s requirement for brand name or equal Archibus Software.

The Governments Technical experts determined that all six (6) offerors could meet the Governments requirement for brand name or equal Archibus Software. Because

Achibus Software was the only solution provided, this further justifies the need for this requirement to be brand name Archibus as opposed to brand name or equal, and therefore will be solicited as such. Furthermore, NASA SEWP has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests provided that the required item or service is within the scope of the NASA SEWP V contract suite and therefore additional competition may be achieved. As a result of the RFI responses, at least two vendors are expected to bid on the formal solicitation for this requirement, limited competition is expected.

9. Other Facts: None.

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.

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 based on the expectation of price competition in addition to the fact that prices on the NASA SEWP V GWAC have already been determined to be fair and reasonable. Additional price analysis will be performed by comparing the proposed prices to the Independent Government Cost Estimate as well as comparing against the NASA SEWP V established Catalogue CLIN Pricing.

12. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed , this document serves as the contracting officer’s basis for using an exception to the fair opportunity process in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(A).